Elon Musk Fans Conspiracy That Biden Wants To ‘Legalize’ Undocumented Migrants For Their Vote

Topline

Elon Musk again fanned a popular right-wing conspiracy theory Wednesday about President Joe Biden and the Democratic party, claiming the administration wants to enable mass immigration and offer citizenship to undocumented migrants to secure their vote in the 2024 election, a talking point also used by former President Donald Trump despite the claim being repeatedly debunked.

For the second time this month, Elon Musk has pushed a conspiracy theory about Democrats letting in more undocumented migrants to gain their votes. NurPhoto via Getty Images

Key Facts

Musk retweeted a post on X asking if Biden’s strategy was to “legalize” millions of undocumented migrants “before the elections and get their vote.”

The billionaire claimed without evidence: “At least some this election, all by next election.”

This is the second time this month Musk has pushed the unfounded conspiracy after previously claiming Biden’s strategy is to “get as many illegals in the country as possible” and “legalize them to create a permanent majority.”

Musk’s post included a screenshot of an Associated Press article from 2021 about Biden pushing legislation for a path to citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants—an effort that was stalled in Congress long ago.

Since the original post, Musk has doubled down on other unsubstantiated claims that “every deportation is a lost vote” for the Democrats and claimed that the goal of the Biden-backed Border Security bill “is enabling illegals to vote.”

News Peg

Musk has repeated his claims on X without offering any evidence that the Democrats and Biden are pursuing such a strategy. Musk’s comments also don’t appear to take into account the existing immigration process in the U.S. According to Politifact, gaining U.S. citizenship can take up to a decade or longer. Even people holding green cards face on average a five-year wait before they can become citizens. Being a U.S. citizen is a requirement for voting in federal, state and most local elections, with even legal permanent residents not being allowed to participate. Additionally, there is no guarantee that a person who is granted U.S. citizenship will either vote for Democrats or Biden. The border security bill backed by Biden and with bipartisan support in the Senate includes no pathway for citizenship for undocumented migrants living in the U.S. The bill, which is opposed by House Republicans and President Donald Trump, will also make it more difficult for migrants to get asylum in the U.S.

Key Background

The conspiracy theory about citizenship for migrants in exchange for votes has been embraced by several other rightwing figures including Trump. In a Truth Social post late last year, Trump falsely claimed “millions of totally unvetted migrants” are being allowed to enter the U.S. by “crazed Democrats” to gain their vote. At a campaign event earlier this month, Trump reiterated the false claims that the Democrats were “allowing these people to come in…they are signing them up to vote.” Trump and Musk’s comments mix the GOP’s rhetoric on voter fraud and immigration with the far-right Great Replacement Theory conspiracy. White supremacists have pushed the racist theory, which claims white Americans are deliberately being replaced by people of color through both immigration and demographic shifts. The ideology has been pushed by several right-wing influencers and commentators, including former Fox News host Tucker Carlson. Commenting on the ideology, Carlson once said: “It’s not a conspiracy theory. It’s [Democrats’] electoral strategy.” The perpetrator of the 2022 mass shooting in Buffalo, which resulted in the deaths of 10 people, is a believer in the racist theory.

Further Reading

Musk Echoes Right Wing Claims On Immigration As Bipartisan Senate Bill Finally Released: What To Know (Forbes)