WASHINGTON, D.C. – In response to the Trump Administration’s executive order released yesterday, the National Partnership for New Americans (NPNA) strongly rebukes any attempt to disenfranchise eligible voters, sow fear and distrust in our elections, and unravel our democracy through disinformation.

Said Nicole Melaku, NPNA executive director, “Every eligible voter should be empowered to participate in civic life and their communities, and the continued, baseless policymaking on non-citizen voting will have a chilling effect among immigrant communities–putting our democracy in further danger. This executive order is meant to usurp free and fair elections and will have a chilling effect among eligible voters. Study after study shows that non-citizen voting is so rare it’s almost non-existent. Let’s call this trend of policymaking what it is: a misguided attempt to undermine the democratic process and reinforce authoritarianism.”

Studies and audits provide concrete numbers to support this claim. The Brennan Center for Justice analyzed 23.5 million votes across 42 jurisdictions in the 2016 election and identified just 30 suspected cases of non-citizen voting—about 0.0001% of the total. A 2024 report from the Cato Institute echoed these findings, revealing minimal evidence of non-citizen voting.

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The National Partnership for New Americans (NPNA) is a multi-ethnic, multiracial coalition of 83 of the nation’s largest immigrant and refugee rights organizations with reach across over 42 states. Together with our members, we advance immigrant and refugee equity and inclusion, build and expand immigration legal services and integration programming capacity, and drive campaigns that strengthen democracy through increased civic participation. See our website for more information at partnershipfornewamericans.org.