Pfluger Demands Action From Biden-Harris Administration to Protect Integrity of Texas Elections

SAN ANGELO, TX — Congressman August Pfluger (TX-11) joined U.S. Representatives Randy Weber (TX-14), Chip Roy (TX-21) and other Texas Republican lawmakers Thursday in calling on the Biden-Harris administration to immediately provide the necessary data to protect the integrity of Texas elections and ensure that only U.S. citizens are registered to vote in Texas.

The letter to the Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services follows Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson's request for citizenship verification data and the federal government's failure to meet the deadline for providing this information.

"Americans deserve confidence in knowing that only legal citizens are casting their vote in the United States of America," Pfluger said. "I am proud to work alongside other Texans in demanding that the Biden-Harris Administration protect the integrity of our elections."

"The Harris-Biden administration's refusal to provide Texas with crucial information is a clear dereliction of duty," Weber said. “They’re turning a blind eye to noncitizens influencing our elections, and they even killed the SAVE Act, which would have barred noncitizens from voting. Federal law prohibits noncitizens from voting, so why won’t they hand over the voter rolls Texas needs to keep our elections clean? My Texas Republican colleagues and I demand they release the information without delay.”

“Texas has a duty to prevent noncitizens from voting. The Biden-Harris administration is trying to prevent that for the same reason they fought the SAVE Act (H.R. 8281): they want noncitizens — especially illegal aliens — to vote,” Roy said. "Public confidence in elections is a necessary cornerstone of any representative government. That confidence must be earned through diligence and transparency.”

In recent weeks, Governor Greg Abbott announced the removal of 6,500 potential noncitizens from Texas voter rolls, highlighting the critical need for further verification before the upcoming election. The federal government has thus far failed to comply with an urgent request made by the State of Texas for access to USCIS data, which is crucial in verifying voter eligibility.

Other Texas Republicans who signed the letter include Representatives Lance Gooden (TX-5), Ronny Jackson (TX-13), Troy Nehls (TX-22), John Carter (TX-31), Beth Van Duyne (TX-24), Pete Sessions (TX-17), Brian Babin (TX-36), Keith Self (TX-3), Wesley Hunt (TX-38), Pat Fallon (TX-4), and Morgan Luttrell (TX-8).

Read the letter below:

We write to you today as Members of Congress, and as Texans, in support of Secretary of State Jane Nelson's September 18, 2024 request to your agency to assist the State of Texas in verifying that noncitizens are not registered to vote in our great state of Texas. Governor Greg Abbott has already announced the removal of 6,500 potential noncitizens from Texas voter rolls; given this unsettling reality, the federal government has a duty to ensure that Texas can accurately verify the citizenship of its voters.

As you know, and as Secretary Nelson notes in her letter to you, both federal and Texas law prohibit noncitizens from registering to and casting a vote in the State of Texas. Although the Biden-Harris administration refuses to take any action to protect states against the influx of illegal aliens at our southern border-1,254 miles of which borders Texas-you still retain a constitutional, statutory, and moral imperative to assist the state in doing what is right.

The request submitted by the state to obtain USCIS citizenship data regarding voter registration in Texas is not only legal, but urgent. The election is around the corner, with the deadline for voter registration already passed on October 7th, and the deadline for absentee and mail-in ballots is October 25th. It is paramount that the state's county registrars can check and confirm the eligibility of each voter, and your agency is the only entity with the data to help. The deadline provided by the state, October 2nd, left your agency with ample time to provide that information. On the afternoon of October 2nd, Secretary of State Nelson informed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton that, "my office has not received any reply from the federal government."

This is an unacceptable dereliction of your duty.

Texas's situation is not an isolated case. The Biden-Harris administration has consistently dismissed the prospect of non-citizens voting, erroneously claiming, "current laws to prevent noncitizen voting are working." Yet the administration is preventing states from enforcing those laws, as evidenced by the failure to provide Texas with citizenship data, and its recent lawsuit against Alabama's removal of non­citizens from its voter rolls. In June 2012, the State of Florida was forced to sue DHS to gain access to the SAVE System to help verify the citizenship status of voters in Florida.

We reiterate our intent that you expeditiously provide the data requested by the state-data that you are required to provide under federal law. To that end, please provide our offices with copies of your correspondence with Secretary of State Nelson. Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.