Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem held a press conference in Arizona on Friday to urge the passage of the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act.

Noem addressed reporters after attending a roundtable discussion with local officials, including Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap, Arizona Assistant Attorney General Jennifer Wright, and state Rep. John Gillette (R).

‘There’s only one reason that anyone would oppose this bill, and that’s because they would want to cheat.’

The secretary emphasized that President Donald Trump has made election integrity one of the administration’s top priorities of its Make America Great Again agenda.

Noem stated that the nation’s election system “needs a lot of work,” adding that America currently has a “golden opportunity” to demonstrate that it is “serious about securing our elections and that we care about making sure that we preserve our sacred republic.”

She noted that the House of Representatives passed the SAVE America Act earlier this week, contending that its passage would implement “common-sense, straightforward” measures, including requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote and states’ removal of noncitizens from voter rolls.

“These measures are extremely popular with American citizens,” Noem continued. “American people have common sense, and they want to see reforms like this put into their elections.”

Noem highlighted a recent poll that found 84% of Americans support requiring a photo ID to vote and 83% support requiring proof of citizenship when registering to vote.

RELATED: 4 Senate Republicans evading MAGA’s pressure campaign to prevent noncitizens from voting

Photo by Kent Nishimura/Getty Images

“It’s common sense that our elections should belong to the American people, that they should be the ones who get to vote, whose votes are counted, that they get one vote, not more, not less,” Noem said. “It’s common sense to make sure that foreign nationals don’t vote in our elections, don’t elect our leaders and have a say in how our country runs.”

“It’s a fact that noncitizens have been voting in our elections. They’ve been registered, and they have voted from state to state,” she added.

The secretary provided examples of noncitizens who had voted in prior elections, including an illegal alien registered to vote in Maryland and another illegal alien registered in Kansas.

“As it stands, current guidelines for the National Voter Registration Act effectively stop states from going forward and checking citizenship during registration. The SAVE America Act would fix this,” she declared.

Noem addressed left-wing criticism that the SAVE Act would prevent American citizens from voting, including claims that newly married women would be disenfranchised when they have a name change and that the measure would make it impossible for U.S. service members to vote when deployed overseas.

She called these claims “just absurd” and “completely false.”

“Each of the arguments that have been laid out to criticize this bill are baseless speculation from the radical left because they want illegal aliens to vote in our elections,” Noem stated.

“There’s only one reason that anyone would oppose this bill, and that’s because they would want to cheat.”

RELATED: Lone Republican defies Trump, votes to tank the SAVE Act

Kristi Noem. Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Reporters pressed Noem for specifics about Arizona’s election system, including whether “emphasizing election security threats without evidence” would “undermine public confidence” or further “misinformation.”

“We have a SAVE program that is available to the state of Arizona,” Noem replied, explaining that the state’s election officials could use the program to ensure that those on its voter rolls are verified.

Noem expressed concern that there are likely “many” individuals on Arizona’s voter rolls who should not be casting a ballot, including individuals who may be living in another state.

“I understand that you have mobile homes and boats on lakes that individuals may have as their voter registration address, but not necessarily that is where they live,” she said. “They live in another state, such as California or on the East Coast.”

Noem stated that Arizona has a history of being “an absolute disaster on elections.”

“Your leaders have failed you dramatically by not having systems that work, by disenfranchising the Americans who wanted to vote, that had to stand in lines for hours because machines failed or software failed. There’s no state that could use more improvement than Arizona,” Noem stated.

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​News, Kristi noem, Department of homeland security, Dhs, Election integrity, Arizona, Save act, Save, Justin heep, John gillette, Maricopa county, Jennifer wright, Voting, Elections, Politics 

A 58-year-old man with a long rap sheet has been accused of robbing a beloved skating coach at a St. Louis Starbucks before shooting the defenseless woman to death, according to court documents.

Twenty-eight-year-old Gabrielle “Sam” Linehan was in the drive-thru in the Tower Grove East neighborhood when, prosecutors allege, Keith Lamon Brown killed the beloved coach and mentor.

‘This loss is both sudden and heartbreaking for our athletes, staff, and broader community.’

Brown was also wanted for allegedly holding a cashier at gunpoint at a Dollar General and robbing another woman at gunpoint at a Jack-in-the-Box in the days prior to the incident.

Surveillance video reportedly shows Brown wearing a high-visibility vest and helmet as he walked up to Linehan’s vehicle. He fled on foot after allegedly shooting Linehan.

Days later when Brown was arrested, investigators said they found Linehan’s license in his possession as well as other items stolen from the woman at the Jack-in-the-Box.

The Metro Edge Figure Skating Club confirmed that Linehan had been their coach. A friend of Linehan said she had stopped at the Starbucks on her way to watch the Olympics at a friend’s house.

“This loss is both sudden and heartbreaking for our athletes, staff, and broader community. We are focused on supporting Coach Sam’s family and providing care and resources for our skaters during this difficult time,” the club said in a statement to KTVI-TV.

Brown was charged with first-degree murder, unlawful possession of a firearm, and three counts of armed criminal action. A judge denied bond for the suspect.

RELATED: Thug allegedly tries to rob man at Penn Station and ends up shot by his off-duty police wife

Court records indicated that Brown has a criminal history as far back as 1986 that includes burglary, robbery, and armed criminal action.

“Coach Sam will be deeply missed and forever remembered,” said the skate club, which also asked for privacy on behalf of her family and friends.

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The Department of Homeland Security is not impressed with the latest effort by Los Angeles activists to warn illegal aliens about the presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

Anti-ICE activists regularly employ whistles to help illegal aliens evade federal officers, but Amanda Alcalde is planning to install ICE warning sirens in the Highland Park neighborhood.

‘Seems like a public nuisance!’

Alcalde said the sirens would be installed on private property and at businesses since the plan is not sanctioned by the city.

In an email statement to Blaze News, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin ridiculed the siren plan.

“This is quite literally insane. The residents of Highland Park want to buy an air raid siren — the same device that was used in London when German planes flew over — to alert the community about ICE. Seems like a public nuisance!” McLaughlin replied.

She went on to document “some of the criminals the residents of Highland Park are trying to protect and help evade arrest.”

Among those were Carlos Danilo Barrera, a criminal illegal alien and member of the Florencia 13 gang who is from El Salvador and was convicted of second-degree murder in Los Angeles, DHS said.

Some others listed by DHS include:

Diego Cardona, a criminal illegal alien from Guatemala and 18th Street gang member convicted for voluntary manslaughter in Los Angeles;Sergio Salvador Salazar Sorto, a criminal illegal alien from El Salvador convicted for false imprisonment and battery in Los Angeles; andEhsan Jalal, a 52-year-old citizen of Afghanistan convicted for robbery in Los Angeles.

Alcalde went on to say in a statement to KTLA-TV that the ICE operations had reduced the “ethnic” representation she saw on the streets of Los Angeles.

RELATED: ICE accuses LA officials of giving ‘a middle finger to the law’ after county paves way for illegal aliens to receive funding

“I’ve seen a lot of fear in people’s eyes. I don’t see a lot of our ethnic minorities out in the day-to-day. It’s big change. It feels dystopian in a way,” she said.

The Trump administration has been recently ramping up detentions and arrests against activists who interfere with federal enforcement operations, according to a Reuters report.

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After former CNN anchor Don Lemon allegedly joined a group of protesters who stormed a church in St. Paul, Minnesota, during a service last month, he finally appeared for his arraignment on Friday.

The incident allegedly involving Lemon and several other protesters occurred on January 18. Lemon was arrested on January 29 and released the following day, according to a CNN report.

Lemon is charged with conspiring to violate someone’s constitutional rights and violating the FACE Act.

Lemon, as expected, pleaded not guilty to the two charges brought against him. Lemon is charged with conspiring to violate someone’s constitutional rights and violating the FACE Act.

Lemon has reportedly hired former Minnesota federal prosecutor Joseph H. Thompson to represent him.

RELATED: Don Lemon ARRESTED over apparent involvement in church invasion; Jim Acosta whines

Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images

Upon his release from custody late last month, Lemon said, “I have spent my entire career covering the news — I will not stop now. In fact, there is no more important time than right now, this very moment, for a free and independent media that shines a light on the truth and holds those in power accountable.”

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New episodes of HGTV’s hit home restoration show “Rehab Addict” were scheduled to air this week after host Nicole Curtis’ brief hiatus. On the same day of the show’s scheduled return, however, years-old leaked footage was published by RadarOnline showing Curtis mindlessly uttering a slur during a renovation.

Warner Bros. Discovery-owned HGTV promptly removed every episode of the show. Future episodes have been canceled.

‘I make no excuse for this.’

“HGTV was recently made aware of an offensive racial comment made during the filming of ‘Rehab Addict,'” the network said in a statement to Variety. “Not only is language like this hurtful and disappointing to our viewers, partners, and employees — it does not align with the values of HGTV. Accordingly, we have removed the series from all HGTV platforms.”

The show-killing viral video appears to show Curtis growing increasingly frustrated during a restoration job and muttering, “Oh fart n*****.”

Realizing immediately what she had just said on camera, Curtis turns to her crew with a look of panic, stating, “What the f**k is that that I just said?”

Curtis appears to ask someone off-screen to “kill that,” in reference to the video evidence — which clearly didn’t take place.

It’s clear that someone behind the scenes had it out for the historic-house-saving mother.

RadarOnline’s source, who indicated the footage was years-old, said, “You [Nicole] deserve everything you get. Treat us with dignity and respect, and quit making money off of our backs. … You are a trash human.”

The host of the now-erased nine-season series said in a lengthy Instagram post on Thursday, “I am sorry. I am filled with remorse and regret, just as much as I was one second after that word was said 4 years ago in 2022.”

RELATED: Deace: The Pam Bondi Show needs to be canceled

Photo by Paul Marotta/Getty Images for Cost Plus World Marke

“I show this, I say this and I realize you are getting a limited view as what has been circulating is a clip of MY footage that was stolen then manipulated, edited and sold to [a] tabloid to coincide with my return to television only to create this chaos of hate, anger, disappointment,” Curtis continued. “I make no excuse for this. I am not [a] victim. Nothing I say or do will take that moment 4 years ago away. I know it was wrong. This will never happen again.”

The ex-host proceeded to suggest that she has been “submerged in the African American community” her entire life and that she has chosen “to live and work in the inner cities of many major cities,” where she apparently hears that word used routinely.

While there were plenty of people apparently happy to see Curtis’ life ruined over a poor choice of words several years ago, she also had many defenders — and at least one job offer — in the wake of her cancellation.

Curtis is hardly the first reality television star canceled over racially charged language.

For instance, the late Hulk Hogan was fired from World Wrestling Entertainment in 2015 over his liberal use of the word “n*****” on tapes recorded nearly a decade earlier. American chef and prolific cookbook author Paula Deen was systematically canceled and stigmatized in the wake of allegations of racial discrimination and the repeated use of a certain slur.

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Yesterday, all but one Democrat in the U.S. House voted against the SAVE Act (Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act), which would require people to show official proof of U.S. citizenship when registering to vote in federal elections and provide a government-issued photo ID to cast a ballot.

Given that the overwhelming majority of American citizens support the core provisions of the SAVE Act, the near-unanimous Democratic opposition is evidence, says BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales, that Democrats are “actively trying to undermine what the American people want and what they voted for.”

“If you are in Congress, you are supposed to represent your constituency, and so … that would lead you to think that [the SAVE Act] is wildly unpopular with the left — like the Democrat constituency doesn’t want voter ID,” she says.

“But here’s the strange thing. That’s not correct. The vast majority of all Americans on both sides agree that we should have safe and secure elections,” she adds, citing the most recent Pew Research data showing 95% support for voter IDs among Republicans and 71% support among Democrats.

“If the vast majority of people agree, why are congressional Democrats attempting to stand in the way of the will of their own people?” she asks.

There are two answers to that, Sara says: “orange man bad” and “the Great Replacement [Theory],” which she says is “not a theory.”

On the latter, she declares, “Even if you were to argue that illegals are not voting and changing elections, well illegals are being counted in the census that is then used to create these districts and decide how many each state has to represent them in Congress.”

But regardless of the widespread bipartisan support for the commonsense SAVE Act, Democrats are attempting to force their will using one of their favorite tried and tested tactics: racialize the issue.

Sara plays a clip of Democrat Rep. Delia Ramirez (Ill.) calling the SAVE Act and Republicans’ defense of it “racist, misogynistic trash.”

“Republicans are invoking historical policies intended, let’s be clear, to disenfranchise Americans, especially working people, women, students, indigenous people, and anyone who can’t afford the burdens of a new bill. The Save America Act is yet another Republican attempt to intimidate and suppress the votes of anyone — anyone — who threatens their extremist white supremacist agenda,” she railed.

“The soft bigotry of low expectations. How can you expect a black person or a Hispanic person to know how to get an ID?” sighs Sara.

She points out the absurdity of Democrats’ argument against requiring would-be voters to get a photo ID on the grounds of race.

“You want to open a bank account? You need a photo ID. You want to fly on an airplane? You need a photo ID. You want to drive in a car? You need a photo ID. You want a credit card? You need a photo ID,” she lists. “Almost every instance where you do something very important, you need a photo ID.”

But none of the aforementioned examples seem to be race issues for Democrats, says Sara.

“I see a lot of minorities flying. … How did that possibly happen if it’s racist to expect those dumb black people to know how to go get a photo ID?” she sarcastically remarks, calling Democrats’ insinuation that racial minorities aren’t capable of obtaining a voter ID an “insanely inherently racist thing to suggest.”

To hear more of Sara’s analysis and commentary, watch the video above.

Want more from Sara Gonzales?

To enjoy more of Sara’s no-holds-barred takes on news and culture, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Sara gonzales, Sara gonzales unfiltered, Blazetv, Blaze media, Voter id, Save act