Trump Administration Directs ICE to Obtain Voter Files from Local Election Officials in Texas and North Carolina

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) investigators, under the Trump administration's direction, directly requested and obtained sensitive voter registration files from election officials in at least two counties in Texas and North Carolina. The requests targeted individual voters as part of an effort to investigate alleged noncitizen voting. Democracy Forward condemned the action as "disturbing to see the administration use law-enforcement resources to obtain sensitive information about a nonexistent problem." The move represents an escalation of Trump's decades-long false claims about widespread noncitizen voting, now manifesting as a multi-agency campaign that reaches into state and local voter systems. Experts and voting rights advocates expressed alarm that federal immigration enforcement is being weaponized to interfere with state-controlled elections ahead of the 2026 midterms, potentially intimidating voters and undermining election administration.

"disturbing to see the administration use law-enforcement resources to obtain sensitive information about a nonexistent problem" — Democracy Forward's statement condemning ICE's direct requests for voter registration files from local election officials