'JAIL for Alien Voters Act' would close loophole, crack down on illegal-immigrant voting, says Gaetz

FIRST ON FOX: Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., is introducing a measure Tuesday that he says would plug a loophole successful existent national rule by making it a felony for forbidden immigrants to ballot successful U.S. elections, aligning penalties pinch those for U.S. citizens unlawfully voting.

Currently, nan prohibited acts nether national rule for U.S. elections do not authorities that voting arsenic an forbidden migrant is simply a prohibited act. Gaetz's authorities would adhd voting arsenic a noncitizen arsenic a prohibited enactment and summation nan punishment from a misdemeanor to a felony pinch up to 5 years successful situation and a $10,000 fine.

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Rep. Matt Gaetz heads to nan House enclosure connected Capitol Hill connected Feb. 6, 2024. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)

"President Donald Trump is right: forbidden aliens who ballot successful our elections should beryllium successful jail," Gaetz told Fox News Digital successful a statement. "It is unacceptable that forbidden aliens get lighter sentences for defrauding our elections than U.S. citizens." 

"My legislation, nan JAIL for Alien Voters Act, will create parity successful reward for those who perpetrate elector fraud, sloppy of migration status. It’s communal consciousness that U.S. citizens should beryllium nan only ones voting successful U.S. elections," he said.

Reps. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., Mike Collins, R-Ga., Claudia Tenney, R-N.Y., and Barry Moore, R-Ala., are cosponsors.

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Election officials and voters guidelines adjacent an physics ballot booth successful Fairdale High School connected Nov. 3, 2020, successful Louisville, Kentucky. (Jon Cherry/Getty Images)

Earlier this month, successful consequence to nan Biden-Harris Justice Department suing Virginia complete its removal of forbidden immigrants from elector rolls, Gaetz introduced nan "National Motor Voter Clarification Act." This authorities intends to guarantee that states tin remove forbidden immigrants from their elector rolls astatine immoderate time. 

Gaetz said these measures purpose to safeguard U.S. elections from imaginable voting by nan millions of forbidden immigrants who entered done nan U.S.-Mexico separator during nan Biden-Harris administration.

A national appeals tribunal connected Sunday ruled that a little tribunal was correct to re-instate immoderate 1,600 Virginia voters who person questionable citizenship position to nan rolls.

On Friday, U.S. Judge Patricia Giles issued a preliminary injunction to reinstate each voters who had been removed from authorities elector rolls successful nan past 90 days. The judge recovered that nan removals had been "systematic," not individualized, and were frankincense a usurpation of national law.

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Her ruling came aft nan Justice Department filed a lawsuit against nan State of Virginia, Virginia State Board of Elections and Virginia Commissioner of Elections connected Oct. 11, saying that by removing voters from rolls excessively adjacent to nan Nov. 5 wide election, nan authorities had violated nan National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA).

If nan lawsuit is picked up by nan Supreme Court, it would apt beryllium successful nan days starring up to Election Day. 

Fox News Digital's Louis Casiano contributed to this report.