Armed and uniformed federal agents from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have been visiting residences in at least six states to question people about their immigration status and voter registration. The Department of Justice (DOJ) also filed an emergency request to stop California from processing ballots from a list of 20,000 residents that federal officials claim are ineligible to vote due to their immigration status.
The operations are part of a DHS "surge" initiative aimed at identifying noncitizen voters before the midterm elections. In June, DHS directed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to assist in deportations of noncitizens who vote. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), a branch of ICE that typically handles cross-border crimes like smuggling, was assigned to conduct these "field reviews" in California, Georgia, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Washington, and Wisconsin.
The DOJ announced on Monday that federal agents in California arrested more than 20 people, all green card holders, on charges of illegal registration or voting. Among those arrested was a 72-year-old man from Belize, accused of voting in the past four elections, and Mariana Alexandra Dewey, a Peruvian national in Kansas City charged with illegally casting a ballot in the 2024 election. DHS has alleged there could be 250,000 illegally registered noncitizens nationwide, while DOJ reports 156 people have been charged with voting-fraud offenses since the start of the Trump administration.
For the 227 million registered voters in the U.S., these actions represent a change in how federal agencies interact with state-managed voter rolls. California state officials, including Attorney General Rob Bonta, have resisted federal demands to validate lists of names, arguing the actions target a statistically small number of people. In California, the 28 individuals recently charged represent approximately 0.0001% of the state's 23 million registered voters. Federal officials warned Los Angeles County that tabulating ballots from identified noncitizens could result in charges of aiding and abetting a federal crime.
What happens next: A federal judge will consider the DOJ’s emergency request to block 20,000 California ballots. Federal agents continue their field reviews, and HSI remains committed to investigating fraud. The DOJ has given California election officials 48 hours to validate a list of names provided on a thumb drive. Those already charged, including Mariana Alexandra Dewey, await court hearings to address the allegations of illegal voting and registration.