Federal immigration investigators obtained voter records directly from local election offices in at least two counties as part of the Trump administration’s expanded effort to investigate alleged noncitizen voting.
Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the investigative arm of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), sought individual voter files from election officials in Texas and North Carolina, according to Axios.
In Webb County, Texas, and Forsyth County, North Carolina, local officials provided the requested information to HSI.
The requests followed an April inquiry from an HSI criminal analyst to the Texas Secretary of State’s office seeking guidance on obtaining voter information.
“Pursuant to ongoing investigations, I am seeking information referencing obtaining voter information; specifically dates and methods of registration, elections voted in, etc.”
Democracy Forward, which obtained the records through public-records requests, criticized the effort.
Senior Oversight Counsel Dan McGrath said, “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.”
Webb County Elections Administrator Jose Castillo told the outlet he had never seen similar requests before and questioned the value of the investigations.
“There’s nothing there. But I get it, you’ve got to do your job,” Castillo said.
He added that he has seen only two cases of noncitizen voting among more than 150,000 registered voters during his four years in office.
The Department of Homeland Security defended the effort.
A DHS spokesperson said, “HSI is actively rooting out and investigating election fraud wherever it can be found.”
The spokesperson added, “We have repeatedly demonstrated that illegal aliens can and do vote in our elections.”
“Under President Trump, HSI is committed to restoring integrity to our election systems and ensuring that American citizens and only American citizens are electing American leaders.”
Axios also reported that Heather Honey, DHS’s deputy assistant secretary for election integrity, has been in contact with Texas election officials and said the agency “has engaged with every state secretary or chief election official.”
The development follows President Trump’s March 2025 executive order directing federal agencies to strengthen election-security efforts and prevent noncitizens from registering to vote.
DHS has also promoted the use of the SAVE database to verify citizenship status of registered voters.
The ICE requests come amid growing legal battles over federal access to voter information.
In March, watchdog group American Oversight sued the Department of Justice and ICE after the agencies allegedly failed to respond to Freedom of Information Act requests seeking records related to the collection, sharing, and use of voter data.
In May, DOJ officials maintained that federal law grants the department authority to access voter-registration data for election oversight and enforcement purposes.
The department has requested statewide voter-registration lists from multiple states and has pursued legal action in some cases when jurisdictions declined to provide records.
Voting-rights advocates and some election officials have challenged those efforts, arguing that expanded federal access raises voter-privacy concerns and could discourage participation in elections.
