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A Border Patrol officer talks to migrants after they crossed the Rio Grande river in Eagle Pass, Texas, Sunday May 22, 2022. (AP) A Border Patrol officer talks to migrants after they crossed the Rio Grande river in Eagle Pass, Texas, Sunday May 22, 2022. (AP)

A Border Patrol officer talks to migrants after they crossed the Rio Grande river in Eagle Pass, Texas, Sunday May 22, 2022. (AP)

Maria Ramirez Uribe
By Maria Ramirez Uribe August 5, 2022

ICE proposes ID cards for immigrants at border, but not for access to benefits

If Your Time is short

  • A pilot program U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is developing would provide Secure Docket Cards as forms of identification to some immigrants entering the U.S. illegally. The cards are meant to help immigrants and ICE better track information related to someone’s immigration case.

  • Although the program is under development, there is no evidence that it is being created to allow immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally to access benefits. 

  • There is also no evidence that the cards are being created to facilitate voter fraud.

Reports of a new proposal from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to provide an identification card for certain immigrants entering the U.S. illegally has prompted criticism from Republican lawmakers and social media users. 

President Joe Biden "wants to give illegals ID cards so they can start collecting American benefits," conservative commentator Tomi Lahren said July 25 on Twitter. "Boy, I wonder if that could possibly lead to voter fraud."

Her comment was reshared in a Facebook post that was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)

We looked into the proposed ID cards and found no evidence that these are intended for immigrants to access benefits or that they could lead to voter fraud. 

Lahren’s team did not respond to PolitiFact’s request for comment. 

ICE proposes new ID cards for some immigrants in the U.S. illegally

A pilot program being developed by ICE would provide Secure Docket Cards as forms of ID to some immigrants entering the U.S. illegally after undergoing a national security background check, according to an ICE spokesperson.

Immigrants seeking asylum or apprehended at U.S. borders are detained or released into the U.S. while they await for their cases to be processed. The Department of Homeland Security provides them with a notice to appear, a charging document that explains why the U.S. government seeks to deport them.

This notice and other documents are provided on paper, which can be easily lost and is susceptible to damage, according to a statement from ICE. The card would give DHS and recipients access immigration information digitally.

A July 1 report from the House Appropriations Committee said $10 million had been allocated for the Secure Docket program, aiming to make DHS more efficient. 

Featured Fact-check

Will the ID cards provide benefits to immigrants?

Although the program’s specifics are under development, according to an ICE statement, there is no evidence that the Secure Docket Card is being created to allow immigrants in the U.S. illegally to access benefits. 

Immigrants in the U.S. illegally are ineligible for almost all federal benefits, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures and the National Immigration Forum

Immigrants might be eligible for certain benefits, such as some health care and nutrition programs, if those benefits are deemed necessary to protect life or guarantee safety in dire situations.

Only U.S. citizens can vote in federal elections

Immigrants who are illegally in the U.S. cannot vote in federal elections. Under federal law, U.S. citizenship is required to participate in a national election. States can check databases to verify a voter’s citizenship status.

Anyone who violates this law can be deported, fined or incarcerated.

The number of cases of noncitizens voting in federal elections is "minuscule," Rutgers University professor Lorraine Minnite previously told PolitiFact. She said, in these cases, noncitizens are accidentally registered to vote when they go to the Department of Motor Vehicles. Sixteen states and the District of Columbia currently provide driver’s licenses to immigrants in the U.S. illegally, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. 

ICE said the secure card is not an official form of federal identification.

A few municipalities across the nation have allowed noncitizens to vote in local elections, such as for school board members or city council.

Our ruling

Lahren claimed that "Biden wants to give illegals ID cards so they can start collecting American benefits."

ICE is developing a Secure Docket Card program, which would grant ID cards to people to track and access information related to their immigration case.

There is no evidence that the cards are being created to provide immigrants with benefits or to facilitate voter fraud. 

Under federal laws, immigrants in the U.S. illegally are ineligible for most federal benefits, and only U.S. citizens can vote in national elections. If noncitizens vote fraudulently, they can be fined, incarcerated and deported.

We rate this claim False.

Our Sources

Email exchange, ICE, Aug. 2, 2022

House Committee on Oversight and Reform House Committee on Oversight and Reform, Comer, Grothman Probe ICE’s Identification Cards Pilot Program for Illegal Immigrants, July 29, 2022

Tweet, Tomi Lahren, July 25, 2022

Facebook, post, Aug. 1, 2022

House of Representative, Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Bill, July 1, 2022

National Conference of State Legislatures, Federal Benefit Eligibility for Unauthorized Immigrants, accessed Aug. 2, 2022

National Immigration Forum, Fact Sheet: Immigrants and Public Benefits, Aug. 21, 2018

PolitiFact, Fact-checking claim about immigrants, eligibility for assistance programs, Jan. 31, 2022

Center for American Progress, Providing Identification to Unauthorized Immigrants, Nov. 24, 2015

PolitiFact, JD Vance’s ad about ‘open border’ and immigrant voters is wrong, April 8, 2022

Legal Information Institute, 18 U.S. Code § 611 - Voting by aliens, accessed Aug. 2, 2022

PolitiFact, Do states verify citizenship of voters in federal elections?, Dec. 7, 2020

PolitiFact, Pence falsely says if HR 1 passes, millions of people in US illegally will be registered to vote, March 5, 2021

National Conference of State Legislatures, States Offering Driver’s Licenses to Immigrants, Aug. 9, 2021

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ICE proposes ID cards for immigrants at border, but not for access to benefits

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