Trump Cites 35,152 Figure, Demands Passage of SAVE America Act

Trump claims Homeland Security data shows tens of thousands of non-citizens registered to vote in New Jersey and urges Republicans to overhaul election rules.

First Published: July 21, 2026, 7:42 PM ET

WASHINGTON D.C. — Donald J. Trump claimed a newly released Homeland Security figure shows 35,152 non-citizens registered to vote in New Jersey, and he demanded that Congress pass the SAVE America Act.

Trump said the tally captured only those “that got caught” and predicted the real total would prove “many times this amount.” He tied the disclosure to his long-running argument that non-citizen voting is widespread and called on his party to act.

Here is the full post on Truth Social: “35,152 is the new number just released by Homeland Security of non-citizens registered to vote in New Jersey. These are just the ones that got caught. The real numbers will prove to be many times this amount. They are all Dumocrats! Republicans, get smart and straighten out our Crooked Elections! Pass The Save America Act!!!” on July 21, 2026 at 11:32 PM ET.

This is the first message released by Trump today. On average, Trump produces about 10 posts per day since his inauguration on January 20, 2025.

The move fits a broader pattern in Trump’s recent messaging, with 96 of his 471 posts over the last 30 days focused on elections.

New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill, a Democrat, said the state has no connection between the DHS estimate and a separate software failure her administration disclosed, according to democracydocket.com. Sherrill said the state asked DHS for the identities and evidence behind the 35,152 number but received nothing, according to democracydocket.com.

Sherrill announced that a Motor Vehicle Commission software failure improperly registered roughly 6,600 people who told the agency they were not U.S. citizens, according to dailysignal.com. The error occurred between June 2023 and June 2024, when applicants for driver’s licenses answered a keypad question about citizenship and the system registered them anyway, according to democracydocket.com. A preliminary review found that fewer than 400 of those people later voted in at least one election, according to democracydocket.com.

The stakes reach beyond New Jersey. The SAVE America Act would impose proof-of-citizenship and photo identification requirements on voters nationwide. Supporters, including the Republican National Committee, argue the measures protect ballot integrity. Critics counter that the requirements would burden lawful voters and address a problem that data show to be rare.

The scale of the disclosed error is small against the state’s electorate. New Jersey reported 6.7 million registered voters and 4.3 million ballots cast in the 2024 general election, according to democracydocket.com. The roughly 6,600 erroneous registrations amounted to about one-tenth of 1% of the state’s registered voters, and the fewer than 400 who voted represent a fraction of the ballots cast across multiple elections.

For the average American voter, the fight determines how easy or hard it will be to register and cast a ballot. Proof-of-citizenship rules could require documents such as passports or birth certificates at the point of registration, changing routine trips to the motor vehicle office or online sign-ups.

This has happened before. The Department of Justice has repeatedly sought unredacted state voter files and lost, standing at 0-16 with no court ordering a state to surrender its full file, according to democracydocket.com. The New Jersey dispute follows that same litigation pattern.

The next decision rests with Congress, which must vote on the SAVE America Act, and with the Department of Justice, which opened a civil rights probe and demanded records from New Jersey. Neither Congress nor the DOJ has announced a date for a vote or a resolution.

Disputes over who may cast a ballot in New Jersey are not new. The state ratified its 1844 constitution, which restricted voting to white male citizens, reversing an earlier 1776 charter that had briefly allowed unmarried property-owning women to vote, according to jerseyvindicator.org. That reversal disenfranchised thousands who had lawfully voted for decades, and the debate over eligibility in the state has resurfaced in nearly every generation since.