Biden Judge Claims Congress Can’t Stop Noncitizens from Voting

A Biden-appointed federal judge in Miami claims a federal ban on noncitizens voting is unconstitutional and has dismissed a case against a migrant who voted in 2020. U.S. District Judge David Leibowitz, appointed to the bench by Joe Biden in 2024, threw out a case against Chelsea Michelle Ann Cox, who knowingly voted despite being a noncitizen in Broward County in 2020. In his 31-page opinion, Leibowitz claimed that the U.S. Congress overstepped its role by passing a law prohibiting noncitizens from voting because in his view the Constitution maintains that the states are to determine voter eligibility. Trump Department of Homeland Security (DHS) General Counsel James Percival blasted the judge, and wrote on X, “A Biden appointed judge in Florida says that federal bans on noncitizen voting are unconstitutional. The thing that never happens is now ‘constitutionally protected activity!'” Should Leibowitz’ ruling stick, the Cox case could have far-reaching consequences for future illegal voting cases. The judge claims that the 1996 federal law prohibiting noncitizens from voting in federal elections is unconstitutional. The law includes penalties of a year in prison and fines if violated. But Leibowitz claims that the law is a violation of Article I, Article II, and the 17th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. “When you’re prosecuted based on a law that Congress did not have the authority to pass, the prosecution cannot stand,” he wrote in his opinion. Federal prosecutors maintain that congressional powers over immigration gives Congress the right to exclude noncitizens from voting. Prosecutors also maintain that a 1970 Supreme Court case validating a law by Congress lowering the voting age to 18 also shows precedent that Congress has the right to affect voting rules in federal elections. Follow Warner Todd Huston Facebook at: Facebook.com/Warner.Todd.Huston, Truth Social @WarnerToddHuston, or at X/Twitter @WTHuston