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source_url: https://www.newsweek.com/trump-dhs-hunts-noncitizen-voters-six-high-profile-cases-12397347
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The [Department of Homeland Security](/topic/department-of-homeland-security) (DHS) is moving several federal agents onto a project to scour voter rolls across the United States for immigrants who are ineligible to vote, ahead of the midterm [elections](/topic/elections), it was reported Wednesday.
According to internal documents and testimony of DHS staff reviewed by The New York Times, the plan is to compare state-level voter rolls with federal databases to[ look for potential voter fraud](https://www.newsweek.com/trump-admin-says-california-doesnt-check-voter-citizenship-which-states-do-12387046). It was not immediately clear what officials would do with the findings, but one former official told the Times it was a clear effort to "intimidate people from exercising their right to vote."
Part of the project includes agents running other people's names through state-based election websites to check on personal details.
"If the reporting is correct, this is shocking, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see states running to the local courthouses to try and stop this," Charles H Stewart III, director of the MIT Election Data and Science Lab, told Newsweek. "This is evidence that the federal government isn’t using highly sophisticated techniques in its investigations."
President Donald Trump and others within his administration have [made repeated claims](https://www.newsweek.com/trump-voter-fraud-claims-explained-attempts-nationalize-elections-11467568) that [there have been high numbers of immigrants](https://www.newsweek.com/thousands-of-potential-noncitizens-found-on-texas-voter-rolls-10911723)—both legal and illegal—[voting](/topic/voting) in federal elections, despite a large body of evidence that such cases are rare and of little impact.
While the government has said focusing on the issue is necessary to ensure fair and secure elections, critics argue that pulling agents into such efforts diverts attention away from serious criminal investigations.
"Pulling federal agents off of ongoing investigations into human trafficking and terrorism for a fishing expedition for voter fraud is a galling misuse of government resources," Tim Harper, project lead for elections and democracy at the Center for Democracy and Technology, told Newsweek.
"The surge announced by DHS is the latest step in the administration's years-long campaign to manufacture a crisis of noncitizen voting, a phenomenon that investigation after investigation has shown to be vanishingly rare. Using the machinery of federal law enforcement to chase a fictional threat while creating a very real one is an unacceptable tradeoff."
A DHS spokesperson told Newsweek that the plan was "common sense," adding that American elections were for American citizens.
"Every illegal ballot cast by a noncitizen threatens to cancel out the lawful vote of an American citizen. Secretary Mullin will not apologize for defending the voting rights of Americans," the spokesperson said.
What the Data Shows About Noncitizen Voting
The debate over noncitizen voting has often centered on two competing realities: documented cases do exist, but many studies have found them to be rare relative to the overall number of votes cast.
The Brennan Center for Justice, which has studied election fraud claims for years, has described noncitizen voting as "vanishingly rare." In 2024, the organization cited research showing election officials overseeing 23.5 million votes in 42 jurisdictions during the 2016 election referred only an estimated 30 suspected cases of noncitizen voting for further investigation or prosecution.
The conservative Heritage Foundation has compiled databases of election fraud, with just 23 instances of noncitizens voting between 2003 and 2022.
The [Trump administration](/topic/trump-administration) argues those figures understate the scale of the problem. Federal officials have expanded the use of government databases to review voter rolls and verify citizenship status.
According to The Associated Press, at least 67 million voter registrations have been processed through a strengthened verification system, with tens of thousands of records [flagged for further review](https://www.newsweek.com/trump-administration-warns-4-states-over-250000-potential-noncitizens-voting-12210404). Civil rights groups, however, have warned that naturalized U.S. citizens can be mistakenly identified as noncitizens because of outdated records or database mismatches.
Recent investigative reporting has found that despite significant federal efforts, relatively few criminal cases have emerged. ProPublica reported that the administration's nationwide campaign had produced only a few dozen noncitizen-voting prosecutions and even fewer convictions, despite pressure to uncover evidence supporting Trump's long-standing claims about election integrity.
“DHS is actively investigating cases involving noncitizen voter registration and voting, while USCIS is providing services to help states fulfill their responsibility to maintain accurate voter rolls," the DHS spokesperson said. "State and local officials have tools available to protect their elections, and there is absolutely no excuse for refusing to use them. With tens of thousands of noncitizens registered to vote, election officials should be focused on fixing the problem.”
Cases That Trump Allies Point To
New Jersey Registration Error
One of the most significant recent discoveries [emerged in New Jersey.](https://www.newsweek.com/new-jersey-mvc-error-noncitizen-voting-mikie-sherill-12224434)
Governor Mikie Sherrill revealed in July that a software error in the state's motor vehicle system resulted in approximately 6,600 people who had indicated they were not citizens being registered to vote between 2023 and 2024. A preliminary state review found that fewer than 400 of those individuals cast ballots.
State officials said there was no evidence that any election outcome had been changed and noted the affected registrations included Democrats, Republicans and unaffiliated voters. Sherrill said the improperly registered voters were being removed from the rolls and an investigation had been launched into how the problem occurred.
Republicans have pointed to the case as proof that election systems can fail and allow ineligible voters onto the rolls. Democrats have countered that the incident was uncovered through state oversight and does not demonstrate widespread organized fraud.
Kansas Mayor's Guilty Plea
Another case that attracted national attention involved [Joe Ceballos](https://www.newsweek.com/dhs-shores-up-case-against-mayor-accused-of-voting-illegally-3-times-11052475), the former mayor of Coldwater, Kansas.
Ceballos, a lawful permanent resident born in Mexico, pleaded guilty this year to misdemeanor election charges after voting despite not being a U.S. citizen. He had been accused of casting ballots in multiple elections while believing he was legally eligible to vote because of his permanent resident status.
The case became a major talking point for supporters of stricter election laws because it involved an elected official. Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach argued the prosecution demonstrated the risks created by insufficient citizenship verification during voter registration.
Ceballos, meanwhile, maintained the voting violations stemmed from an honest misunderstanding rather than an attempt to commit fraud.
Chinese National Poses as Fellow Green Card Holder
Federal prosecutors have also brought a more unusual election-related case in Massachusetts.
According to a federal criminal complaint, investigators allege a man registered another individual, a lawful permanent resident, to vote without that person's knowledge, cast a ballot in the individual's name during the 2024 election, and[ later reported the supposed violation to federal authorities](https://www.newsweek.com/man-impersonated-green-card-holder-vote-illegally-reported-uscis-12343832).
The complaint states that the suspect eventually admitted registering the voter and submitting the ballot using the victim's identity.
Unlike the Kansas prosecution, the Massachusetts case centers on alleged ballot fraud and identity misuse rather than a noncitizen mistakenly voting.
Philadelphia Man Accused of Voting in Seven Elections
A Mauritian man [was charged in March 2026](https://www.newsweek.com/ice-arrests-noncitizen-allegedly-voting-seven-federal-elections-11650594) with allegedly voting in multiple federal elections stretching back to 2008.
Mahady Sacko, 50, was accused of registering and casting ballots despite not being a U.S. citizen, according to a criminal affidavit. He first registered to vote in 2005, according to the documents.
Images from the affidavit show what appears to be Sacko's signature on his Pennsylvania voter registrations, as a Democrat, from 2006 to 2024.
Federal Investigations in Michigan
Michigan officials referred a small number of suspected noncitizen voting cases for possible prosecution following a review of the 2024 election.
State officials identified a handful of individuals who appeared to have cast ballots despite lacking citizenship status and forwarded the cases to prosecutors. Supporters of stronger election safeguards point to the findings as proof that improper voting can occur, while opponents note that the number represented a tiny fraction of votes cast statewide.
Texas Cases Highlight Recent Enforcement Push
Federal authorities have also [pursued cases in Texas involving lawful permanent residents](https://www.newsweek.com/thousands-of-potential-noncitizens-found-on-texas-voter-rolls-10911723) accused of voting in elections despite being ineligible. Among them was Ada Ngozi Otuka, who pleaded guilty to illegally voting and falsely claiming U.S. citizenship on voter registration documents.
Another case involved a British citizen who admitted voting in a federal election despite not being eligible. The prosecutions have been highlighted by supporters of the administration's crackdown as examples of election laws being enforced through criminal investigations.
Why the Federal Crackdown Is Controversial
Supporters of the administration's approach argue that even a small number of illegal votes can undermine public confidence in elections.
The Trump administration has pursued executive actions designed to increase citizenship verification and has directed federal agencies to assist states in identifying potentially ineligible voters. Court filings tied to challenges against those efforts show the administration has emphasized federal election laws prohibiting noncitizen voting and prioritized related investigations and prosecutions.
Opponents say[ the effort risks going far beyond](https://www.newsweek.com/trump-admin-save-program-american-voters-data-lawsuit-10885395) addressing legitimate cases.
Voting-rights groups, Democratic lawmakers and privacy advocates have raised concerns about large-scale voter-roll reviews that use federal [immigration](/topic/immigration) and citizenship databases. They argue such systems can generate false positives and may wrongly flag naturalized U.S. citizens, potentially leading to voter purges or unnecessary investigations.
"It is good to know that the agents are being instructed not to go after citizens and to recognize derived citizenship could be the reason someone appears to be a non-citizen on the list," Stewart said. "The problem is that many people whose citizenship was derived from their parents’ naturalization are not known to DHS."
As the administration intensifies its search for noncitizen voting before the 2026 [midterms](/topic/midterms), the emerging battle is likely to focus not on whether such violations occur at all, but whether the documented cases justify an expansive federal campaign to find them.
Update 9/3/26, 9:07 a.m. ET: This article was updated with comment from DHS.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: [Jason Lemon](mailto:j.lemon@newsweek.com) and [Gray R. Thomas](mailto:g.thomas@newsweek.com)