Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigators are now directly requesting individual voter records from local election officials, and they've already obtained files in at least two counties, according to emails obtained through public records requests.
Homeland Security Investigations, the investigative arm of ICE, asked election officials in Webb County, Texas for specific voter files in May. A separate HSI agent requested registration information for two voters in Forsyth County, North Carolina last November. Both counties handed over the requested data.
The effort marks a significant escalation in President Trump's multiyear focus on alleged noncitizen voting. What began as a campaign issue has evolved into a coordinated federal initiative touching state and local election infrastructure. This month, Heather Honey, now the Department of Homeland Security's deputy assistant secretary for election integrity, met virtually with the Texas Secretary of State's office and staff from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to discuss how DHS could support voter verification efforts.
The groundwork was laid earlier. In April, an HSI criminal analyst emailed Texas's Secretary of State requesting technical information about what types of subpoenas could be used to obtain voter data, including registration dates, voting history, and methods of voter registration.
Webb County election administrator Jose Castillo said he had never fielded requests like these before. "There's nothing there. But I get it, you've got to do your job," Castillo said. "To me, they could use their resources for something else that's more useful." He noted that in four years, his county of more than 150,000 voters documented two cases of noncitizen voting.
Castillo is now directing HSI agents to submit future voter data requests as public records requests rather than through informal channels.
The rare problem driving the push
Trump has long contended that millions of noncitizens vote illegally, citing this as why he lost the popular vote in 2016 and the general election in 2020. However, documented cases tell a different story. The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank that tracks voter fraud convictions and court records, found just 100 confirmed cases of noncitizen voting between 1982 and 2025.
Voter files typically contain registration history, address, date of birth, driver's license number, and voting history. Dan McGrath, senior oversight counsel at Democracy Forward, criticized the approach. "Using ICE to pursue a problem this rare should concern everyone. Americans have a right to understand the full scope of the administration's actions," he said.
A DHS spokesperson said HSI "is actively rooting out and investigating election fraud wherever it can be found." The statement added that ICE has "repeatedly demonstrated that illegal aliens can and do vote in our elections" and that under Trump, the agency is committed to restoring integrity to election systems.
HSI's fraud task force has investigated voter fraud in the past, but it has historically represented a relatively small part of the unit's work. That calculus appears to be changing.
Honey said DHS has engaged with election officials across the country but did not specify how many. "DHS routinely works with our state and local partners including the state of Texas. In this case, we wanted to discuss how DHS could best support the SOS office and collaborate on shared goals," she said.
The push has formal backing. Trump signed an executive order in March 2025 stating the nation was failing to protect elections and enforce federal law. It specifically referenced prohibiting noncitizens from registering to vote. DHS has also promoted the SAVE database, a system designed to verify citizenship status, for use by local election officials reviewing voter rolls.
This week, DHS General Counsel James Percival issued a memo directing ICE's legal office to "ensure consequences" for noncitizen voting in deportation proceedings "to the maximum extent allowed by law."
Author James Rodriguez: "The gap between documented reality and federal action keeps widening, and local officials are caught in the middle of a hunt for ghosts."
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