‘Simply False’: Texas Official Rebuts Story Shared by Fox’s Bartiromo About Immigrants Registering to Vote

The Texas Department of Public Safety poured cold water Tuesday on a post from Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo , in which she shared a claim “from a friend” on X that DMVs in the state had long lines of immigrants outside registering to vote. It was a claim Bartiromo also shared on-air with her Fox audience.

Bartiromo, who was involved in Fox’s roundly debunked claims of election fraud in the 2020 election and the subsequent Dominion lawsuit, posted on Sunday morning:

From a friend …
Friend of mine’s wife had to take her 16 yr old son to the DMV this week for a new license. Couldn’t get an online appointment(all full) so went in person and had to go to 3 DMV’s to get something done. First DMV was in Weatherford. Had a massive line of immigrants getting licenses and had a tent and table outside the front door of the DMV registering them to vote! Second one was in Fort Worth with same lines and same Dems out front. Third one was in North Fort Worth had no lines but had same voter registration drive.

The McClatchy-owned Fort Worth Star-Telegram dug into the post from Bartiromo and noted that “While Bartiromo herself did not say the word “illegal,” her followers did not hesitate to make that assumption. She did not immediately respond to a request for comment.”

Sgt. William Lockridge, a spokesperson for the Texas Department of Public Safety, told the Star-Telegram in a statement that the statement Bartiromo shared is “simply false.” The report noted, “Contrary to Bartiromo’s friend’s wife’s account, there is no office for the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles in Weatherford. Folks there get their licenses at a DPS Driver License office.”

“None of it is true,” Lockridge added and called the claims “kind of racist,” adding, “Just because these people aren’t white, that doesn’t mean they’re illegal.” According to the Star-Telegram, Lockridge confirmed one detail in the post, “There was a table set outside the DPS Driver License office in Lake Worth on Friday, Lockridge said, but not at the other two sites mentioned in Bartiromo’s post.”

Bartiromo also pushed the claim on her show on Monday. Bartiromo told her guest she’s heard of “these immigrants at these DMV offices, where people are going to try to go get a license. They can’t get an appointment at the DMV because it’s jam-packed with illegals.”

“The person that spoke to me about this this weekend, I, you know, identified several places in Texas where he couldn’t get in. The first one was in Weatherford, a massive line of immigrants getting licenses. They had a tent and a table outside the front door of the DMV registering them to vote. It was all. The signs were in Spanish. It was an obvious Democrat operation on this voting, he said. The second one was in Fort Worth. Same line, same Democrats out front. And the third one was in North Fort Worth, which had no lines, but the same voter registration drive trying to get illegal to get their driver’s licenses so that they have ID,” Bartiromo said as her guest agreed.

The issue of immigrants voting has long animated Republican voters and lawmakers. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) wrote on X Monday, “For years, I have warned about the risks of illegal aliens voting in American elections. We must, at every level of government, ensure that only citizens cast ballots to determine the direction of the country. I’ve directed the full weight and force of my office toward this issue and we will not stop until every available remedy has been exhausted. Know this: if you are illegally registering to vote or assisting someone to vote illegally, you will suffer the full consequences under the law.”

The Associated Press reported in May about the prevalence of illegal migrants on voting rolls, writing, “Election administration experts say it’s not only provable, but it’s been demonstrated that the number of noncitizens voting in federal elections is infinitesimal.”

“To be clear, there have been cases over the years of noncitizens illegally registering and even casting ballots. But states have mechanisms to catch that. Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose recently found 137 suspected noncitizens on the state’s rolls — out of roughly 8 million voters — and is taking action to confirm and remove them, he announced this past week,” added the AP.