The following is the opinion and analysis of the writer:
Jordan Liz
The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act is stalled in the Senate, but still alive.
Voting rights organizations, civil rights groups, and others warn that the bill would cause unprecedented disruptions in voting, potentially disenfranchising tens of millions of eligible voters.
But President Trump insists that it鈥檚 鈥渙ne of the most important and consequential pieces of legislation in the history of Congress, and America itself.鈥 He contends it is necessary to stop 鈥渃heating鈥 in our elections.
Yet voter fraud is exceptionally rare. As the Brennan Center for Justice concludes, 鈥渋t simply could not and does not happen鈥 at anywhere near the rate 鈥渞equired to 鈥榬ig鈥 an election.鈥
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The true purpose of the SAVE America Act is not to make elections safer. It is to exploit people鈥檚 fears about marginalized groups 鈥 in this case, immigrants and transgender people 鈥 to seize more power.
Importantly, in addition to mandating burdensome Voter ID and proof of citizenship requirements that many eligible voters will be unable to meet, the SAVE America Act also bans transgender athletes from competing in women鈥檚 sports and gender-affirming care for trans youth. If the purpose were to improve election security, these provisions would be out of place.
The Trump administration, however, knows it lacks any evidence to back-up their phony claims. So instead of facts, they spread lies about immigrants and trans people to change how voters understand the stakes of upcoming elections.
Instead of a democratic contest between different candidates offering distinct visions for the country, Trump wants people to genuinely believe that 鈥渧ery bad things鈥 will happen if the Democrats win the midterms. He is hoping that fear will motivate Republicans to pass the SAVE America Act, while distracting people from the real dangers of the law itself.
The reality is that 鈥渧ery bad things鈥 will happen if the SAVE America Act is passed.
For one thing, it would severely restrict mail-in voting, which could especially impact older, disabled, and rural voters, plus millions more in states that have conducted elections by mail for years. It would be especially disruptive in Arizona, where around 75 percent of votes are cast by mail.
Protecting vote-by-mail shouldn鈥檛 be a partisan issue 鈥 even President Trump himself voted by mail this year.
For another, the vast majority of Americans would need to present a passport or birth certificate to show proof of citizenship 鈥 a driver鈥檚 license or state ID would often be insufficient. However, more than 140 million U.S. citizens lack a passport, and as many as 69 million married women don鈥檛 have a birth certificate that matches their legal name.
Beyond those barriers, determining proof of citizenship is highly vulnerable to abuse. If validating those documents is left entirely to election officials 鈥 or worse, the Department of Homeland Security 鈥 then it can be used to further disenfranchise voters.
We鈥檝e already seen similar abuses by ICE.
For instance, in December 2025, Dulce Consuelo D铆az Morales, a U.S.-born citizen, was detained by ICE on suspicion of being an undocumented immigrant. Her family and attorneys submitted proof of her citizenship status, including her birth certificate and immunization records.
Yet a DHS official insisted that the documents were not valid. D铆az Morales鈥 remained in ICE custody for 25 days before being released. Her rights were denied because DHS judged that her proof of citizenship wasn鈥檛 proof enough.
This should worry all of us.
In February 2026, then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem claimed she had the authority to identify 鈥渧ulnerabilities鈥 in the election system and implement 鈥渕itigation measures鈥 to ensure elections 鈥渞un correctly.鈥 She remarked that DHS will ensure 鈥渢hat we have the right people voting, electing the right leaders to lead this country through the days that we have.鈥
The SAVE America Act is not about preventing election fraud. It is about paving the way for Trump to abuse his legal powers to rig the election in his favor.
He is scapegoating immigrants and transgender people to further his authoritarian goals.
We cannot allow this to happen. To save America, we must ensure that the SAVE America Act never passes.
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Jordan Liz is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at San José State University. He specializes in issues of race, immigration, and the politics of belonging. This op-ed was distributed by .
