Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer fed into the growing narrative that Democrats care more about illegal aliens than American citizens again over the weekend as he vowed to block the SAVE Act, legislation that would require an ID to vote in federal elections nationwide.
During an appearance on State of the Union, a New York Democratic lawmaker criticized the legislation, falsely comparing it to historical systems of racial segregation and vowing to oppose its passage. In the exchange on CNN, the lawmaker said members of the Democratic caucus would work “tooth and nail” to block the measure from advancing to President Donald Trump’s desk.
In addition to requiring voters to show an ID to vote, it also requires them to prove their citizenship when registering to vote. Republicans have long held that Democrats in blue cities and states have fashioned election procedures that allow great numbers of illegal aliens to vote—a claim that was substantiated again by FBI Director Kash Patel on Saturday.
Schumer told host Jake Tapper that the Republican-led effort is an “outrageous proposal that shows the sort of political bias of the MAGA right.”
He further claimed the GOP’s motivation is rooted in excluding specific demographics, claiming, “They don’t want poor people to vote. They don’t want people of color to vote, because they often don’t vote for them.”
Schumer also called the legislation “Jim Crow 2.0,” while critics of this characterization said that, in reality, Democrats’ suggestion that poor voters and voters of color can’t obtain an ID is actually discriminatory and racist.
“They make it so hard to get any kind of voter ID that more than 20 million legitimate people, mainly poorer people and people of color, will not be able to vote under this law,” Schumer claimed, again falsely.
In reality, the vast majority of Americans favor voter ID, once again putting Schumer and his party on the wrong side of a major issue.
During the interview, Tapper referenced an August 2025 survey conducted by the Pew Research Center, which indicated that 83% of Americans, including a majority of Democrats, support voter ID requirements.
The findings also showed broad support across different racial groups: 76% of Black respondents, 77% of Asian respondents, and 82% of Hispanic respondents favored the idea of presenting photo identification in order to cast a ballot.
At that, Schumer deflected while introducing extreme hypotheticals that, in practice, would be next to impossible to carry out. He claimed that states can have their own voter ID laws, which is true, but then said there was the potential for federal officials to monitor polling stations – a dubious notion that would require tens of thousands of agents.
“They show no evidence of voter fraud. They show there’s so little in the country,” Schumer claimed before trashing Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. “And to have ICE agents, these thugs, be by the polling places, that just flies in the face of how democracy works.”
Republicans countered that, in reality, it’s the Democratic Party defending illegal aliens who are a threat to the rule of law.
“Why should you ban ICE from being at polling places? Because illegals aren’t supposed to vote in America,” countered Rep. Jason Smith of Missouri. “Apparently, Democrats don’t like the rule of law. If they don’t like the rule of law, they need to change it.”
The legislation passed the House on Wednesday with nearly unanimous Republican support. Notably, moderate Texas Representative Henry Cuellar was the only Democrat to vote in favor of the bill. Cuellar, who is of Mexican descent, represents a border district that is over 70% Hispanic.
This highlights a possible divide between the national party’s rhetoric and the preferences of some constituents in border regions.