Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen told Fox News Digital that state welfare agencies are giving illegal immigrants and other non-citizens a 'mechanism' to register to vote. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, an illegal immigrant has agreed to plead guilty to charges related to stealing a U.S. citizen's identity to vote in multiple elections and fraudulently obtain an American passport. Angelica Maria Francisco, a 42-year-old undocumented individual from Russellville, Alabama, faces a nine-count information in federal court.

The charges include false claims of citizenship connected to voting, false statements on a U.S. passport application, use of a fraudulently obtained passport, and aggravated identity theft. A plea agreement indicates Francisco will plead guilty to all nine counts, as announced by U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama Prim F. Escalona and Joseph R. Wysowaty of the U.S. State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) Atlanta Resident Office. Francisco is accused of assuming a U.S. citizen's identity around 2011, obtaining an American passport that same year, and utilizing it to travel to Guatemala in 2012, 2015, and 2018.

She allegedly registered to vote in Alabama in 2016 and participated in the 2016 and 2020 primary and general elections. In 2021, Francisco purportedly used the false identity again to obtain a renewed passport, which she used for travel to Guatemala in 2022. The State Department's Diplomatic Security Service led the investigation with assistance from the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, the East Metro Area Crime Center, and the Alabama Secretary of State’s Office.

'Ensuring only eligible American citizens vote in Alabama elections is a top priority,' said Secretary of State Wes Allen. He commended federal and state agencies for their diligent efforts in investigating and charging this case. Allen emphasized continued cooperation with law enforcement to prosecute illegal voting activities fully. Allen has voiced concerns about Executive Order 14019, signed by President Biden in 2021, which he's argued allows non-citizens to register to vote via state agencies without citizenship verification.

According to Allen, this is a broad interpretation of the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) of 1993 and undermines election integrity by mobilizing federal agencies as voter registration entities. At the Republican National Convention, Allen discussed the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act with House Speaker Mike Johnson. This proposed legislation would require states to verify citizenship in person when registering voters and remove non-citizens from voter rolls.

Senators Ted Cruz and Mike Lee have promoted attaching the SAVE Act to a spending bill extension to prevent a government shutdown. 'Punting new government spending into 2025 with a new President and attaching the SAVE Act avoids a Biden-Harris omnibus and secures our elections,' said Representative Ralph Norman. Republicans argue that ensuring only eligible American citizens vote in elections is crucial, even if it means risking a government shutdown.

Danielle Wallace, a breaking news and politics reporter for Fox News Digital, contributed to this report. Contact tips can be sent to [email protected] and on X: @danimwallace.