Trump Administration Expands Noncitizen Voting Prosecutions Before Midterms
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A voter casts a ballot at a polling station in the United States. Illustrative image. |
WASHINGTON — September 23, 2026
The Trump administration is expanding federal criminal investigations and prosecutions of noncitizens accused of voting in US elections as the November midterm elections approach. The Justice Department has brought dozens of recent cases under a federal law that prohibits noncitizens from voting in federal elections, while officials say the enforcement effort will continue to grow in the weeks before Election Day.
The Justice Department said it charged 16 people in September in cases involving alleged illegal voting, false claims of US citizenship and related election offenses. Separate reporting found that the department had brought charges against about 20 people earlier in the month under the federal law specifically covering voting by noncitizens.
A Justice Department official described the investigation as a top priority for Attorney General Todd Blanche and the White House. The official said the number of prosecutions was expected to increase before the November 3 elections, which will determine control of the US House of Representatives and Senate.
Homeland Security Investigations, the investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security, has assigned hundreds of agents across all 50 states to the effort. An HSI official said the agency had about 1,600 open investigations connected to suspected noncitizen voting.
The administration has made noncitizen voting a major part of its election-enforcement agenda. President Donald Trump and his supporters have argued that illegal voting by noncitizens is a significant election-security problem, while federal officials have pointed to recent criminal cases as evidence that such violations occur.
The cases remain a small share of the total number of votes cast in US federal elections. Recent research and reporting have found that noncitizen voting is uncommon, although individual cases do occur and federal law prohibits noncitizens from voting in federal elections.
Some of the recent defendants are lawful permanent residents rather than undocumented immigrants. Federal prosecutors have accused defendants in several states of registering to vote, casting ballots or falsely claiming US citizenship. Defendants in criminal cases are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
The Justice Department announced several such cases in September. In Texas, seven noncitizens were charged in federal cases involving alleged unlawful voting or false claims of citizenship. Other cases have been brought in states including Georgia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Kansas and Florida.
The federal investigation has also raised questions about how election-fraud cases are handled within the Justice Department. According to a person briefed on a recent meeting, senior officials told federal prosecutors that they could no longer independently reject election-fraud cases presented by federal investigators when agents believed the evidence supported charges.
The source said the deputy attorney general's office could become involved when prosecutors and federal agents disagree about whether charges should be filed. A Justice Department official said department leadership would mediate such disputes but would not intervene in every case that prosecutors considered unsupported.
The increased enforcement comes alongside a separate effort to identify possible noncitizens on voter registration lists. A recent review found that states may have mistakenly added more than 30,000 self-declared noncitizens to voter rolls since 2000 because of software and clerical errors during driver's license and state identification processing.
The distinction between mistaken registration and intentional illegal voting is significant. A person can appear on a voter roll because of an administrative error without having voted, and recent federal prosecutions generally involve allegations that defendants knowingly registered or voted despite being ineligible.
The administration's enforcement campaign is therefore likely to remain a major issue ahead of the November elections, with federal officials emphasizing prosecutions while election officials and researchers continue to distinguish individual violations from claims of widespread organized noncitizen voting.
