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FIRST ON FOX: The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is changing its policy manual to prevent illegal migrants who voted in elections or attempted to register to vote from receiving citizenship under new guidelines.
The policy update will also include USCIS initiating deportation proceedings against any illegal migrant who committed a form of voter fraud or claimed to be a U.S. citizen for any purpose or benefit.
“Illegal voting undermines the will of the American people and threatens the legitimacy of our elections,” USCIS spokesperson Matthew Tragesser told Fox News Digital. “Under the leadership of President Trump and Secretary Noem, we are making changes to prevent and punish aliens who voted illegally in our elections from gaining U.S. citizenship.
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“Aliens who facilitate or perpetuate illegal voting face swift and severe consequences,” Tragesser added.
Under current USCIS guidelines, illegal migrants must demonstrate good moral character (GMC) to qualify for citizenship. The new guidelines, which will take effect Friday afternoon, specify that attempting to circumvent voter laws or unlawfully claiming to be a U.S. citizen would be a failure of GMC requirements and prevent an illegal migrant from applying for citizenship.
Fox News Digital obtained an internal leadership guidance memo that will be sent to employees at USCIS on Friday afternoon, which outlines the course of action for implementing the updated policy and clarifies that illegal migrants who fail to meet GMC will be issued a Notice to Appear (NTA) and be referred for criminal prosecution.
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Applications for passports and drivers’ licenses will also prevent illegal migrants from receiving citizenship and initiate the deportation process.
The move comes after President Donald Trump’s March executive order, titled “Preserving And Protecting the Integrity of American Elections,” which ordered the secretary of Homeland Security to access “appropriate systems for verifying the citizenship or immigration status of individuals registering to vote or who are already registered.”
Trump’s executive order was met by some legal challenges, including a lawsuit by 19 Democratic attorneys general and two federal judges in Massachusetts and Washington, D.C., blocking portions of the order that outlined voter ID requirements.
Judge Denise J. Casper, who was appointed by President Barack Obama, ruled in the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts that “the Constitution does not grant the President any specific powers over elections.”
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Despite the legal setbacks, President Trump remained determined to fulfill his campaign promises on revising immigration policy, including this latest policy update at USCIS.
The tightened restrictions and likely increase in deportations as the president continues to remove millions of illegal migrants who entered the country during the Biden administration.
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Last week, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News Digital that the agency has arrested more than 359,000 illegal migrants and removed more than 332,000 illegal migrants from the U.S.
Preston Mizell is a writer with Fox News Digital covering breaking news. Story tips can be sent to Preston.Mizell@fox.com and on X @MizellPreston
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