By: Richard Hanus, Esq.

July 22, 2026

Software glitch in New Jersey leads to thousands of mistaken voter registrations and hundreds of noncitizen votes

In the past week, New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill announced that a software glitch in the state’s motor-voter system led to the mistaken registration of 6,600 noncitizens and with approximately 400 of those relying on the results of the glitch and proceeding to actually vote.  Of course the scenario led to a political uproar, including from the White House, where President Trump alleged that is was part of a grand conspiracy by Democrats to improperly influence elections.   This is yet another reminder of how our voter registration systems need strong safeguards and for many reasons, including to protect the integrity of our elections and to prevent noncitizens from believing they are authorized to vote in a U.S. election just because they somehow are issued a voter registration card.  For noncitizens, registering to vote or voting can present devastating consequences for their U.S. immigration status.

New public charge rule set to take effect on September 18 

The U.S Department of Homeland Security has announced it will soon implement a new “public charge” rule granting immigration officers expanded powers in screening green card applicants based on their likelihood of becoming dependent on government assistance.

To be sure, public charge screening for applicants for U.S. residence has been in place since time immemorial.  But this new rule, set to be implemented on September 18, 2026, is feared by many experts to have insufficient clear guidelines and to be open to abuse, inconsistent decision-making and unduly restrictive, if not prohibitive, standards.

According to David Bier, director of immigration studies at the Cato Institute – a libertarian think tank, “(i)f I had to guess, whatever guidance they adopt will adopt a presumption against granting green cards to people who have, or they project to have, low incomes.”  Stay tuned for more details on this new rule as they become available.

U.S Supreme Court:  Children born in the U.S. are born as U.S. citizens

According to the U.S. Constitution, with a few exceptions, all persons born in the U.S. are considered U.S. citizens by law.   Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court confirmed this principle in a 5-4 decision, declaring that President Trump’s recent Executive Order seeking to limit birthright citizenship was unconstitutional and signaling that any future similar initiative by either the President or Congress will fail.

As Chief Justice Roberts asserted – writing the Supreme Court’s majority opinon: “(c)itizenship, then and now, was the right to have rights — to freely participate in our political community……..(T)he Framers of the 14th Amendment extended that promise to ‘every free-born person in this land.’ We keep that promise today.”

While the decision was not in their favor, the Trump Administration can claim a win in many ways, especially because of the noise generated and how the publicity sent the kind of political message much of his constituency craves.  Moreover, it looks like the Supreme Court is just one vote away from issuing a game changing decision reversing a bedrock constitutional principle at the root of what this nation has always stood for.

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