This week, congressional Republicans will counter Democratic demands for ICE reform by changing the topic to the phantom menace of noncitizen voting. The House is expected to pass the SAVE (Safeguard American Voter Eligibility) Act once again, though Democrats are sure to block it in the Senate. The SAVE Act would prevent roughly 21 million U.S. citizens from voting by requiring that they produce documentation they don’t have (like a Real ID, passport, or birth certificate). The premise for this legislation is dubious. It suggests that vast numbers of people are defying existing federal and state laws prohibiting noncitizen voting and influencing U.S. elections.

It’s hard to overstate the importance of the myth of mass noncitizen voting to the MAGA mind-set. It’s at the heart of the white-supremacist Great Replacement Theory, which claims nonwhite immigrants are taking over America via the ballot box. And it’s not just fringe voices pushing this myth. It’s the basis for Donald Trump’s bizarre claim in 2016 that he would have won the popular vote against Hillary Clinton if not for the “millions” of votes cast by illegal immigrants. It’s a key part of Trump’s 2020 “stolen election” claim as well. In 2024, it ascended to the level of a foundational myth in MAGA circles. Throughout the campaign, Trump claimed America had been destroyed by........

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