In a recent development, former President Donald Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson are set to push a bill to ban non-citizens from voting, a move that has sparked controversy due to the lack of evidence supporting the existence of widespread non-citizen voting. The announcement came during an appearance at Mar-a-Lago, with Johnson scheduled to hold a press conference at the former president's residence on Friday.

The Republican Party has long used the issue of non-citizen voting as a strategic attack against Democrats. However, a study conducted by the Brennan Center after the 2016 election revealed that only 0.0001 percent of voters across 42 jurisdictions, encompassing 23.5 million votes, were suspected to be non-citizens who managed to vote. This amounted to approximately 30 incidents in total, suggesting that non-citizen voting is indeed a rare occurrence.

Despite the scarcity of evidence, Trump has persistently claimed widespread election fraud and propagated the unfounded theory that migrants are being "signed up" to vote in the United States. "I think they really are doing it because they want to sign these people up to vote. I really do," Trump declared at an Iowa rally in January, insinuating that non-English speaking migrants were being enrolled as voters.

It is crucial to note that under the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, non-citizens are already prohibited from voting in federal elections. Furthermore, very few states allow non-citizens to vote at the state or local level, if at all.

Recent comments by Trump on Truth Social, his newly launched social media platform, accused President Joe Biden of "opposing deportations" and wanting to convert "illegal migrants into voting citizens." However, studies on non-citizen voting fraud have consistently shown minimal occurrences. A database compiled by The Heritage Foundation reveals only 85 cases of alleged non-citizen voting in the United States since 2002.

Contrary to Trump's claim, the Bipartisan Policy Center confirms that only three states and Washington DC have municipalities that allow non-citizens to vote in select local elections, which are few and far between. Non-citizens are unlikely to risk deportation and the revocation of their legal status by attempting to vote illegally in federal elections. The consequences for such actions include fines and potential imprisonment.

The proposed bill coincides with the ongoing debate over border security, which has emerged as a key issue in the race to the White House. Biden and Trump have exchanged criticisms regarding their respective border policies. Biden has accused Trump and his Republican allies of withholding support for a bipartisan compromise bill earlier this year, which aimed to bring about comprehensive immigration system reforms in exchange for aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan.

In an interview with Univision, Biden expressed his frustration, stating, "When the hell would you vote on a major piece of legislation based on whether you benefit somebody that's in politics? It's either good or it's bad. It was a good piece of legislation, and I'm not giving up on it."

As the bill to ban non-citizens from voting is introduced, it remains to be seen how it will progress in Congress, given the limited evidence supporting the need for such legislation and the existing laws already in place regarding non-citizen voting.