The Department of Homeland Security has instructed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to deport illegal aliens who cast ballots in American elections, escalating enforcement of a federal prohibition on noncitizen voting and tying immigration consequences directly to election fraud.
The directive came in a letter from DHS General Counsel James Percival, who cited the Immigration and Nationality Act’s mandate to remove aliens who vote illegally. Percival framed the policy as a matter of democratic integrity. “The importance of free, fair, and honest elections is without question,” he wrote. “Illegal voting by aliens dilutes the votes of American citizens and undermines our democracy. It must have consequences.”
DHS said illegal voting and false claims of U.S. citizenship frequently go hand‑in‑hand, a connection the agency said the new enforcement posture is designed to address directly.
Virginia Representative Ben Cline welcomed the move but said Congress must act further. “Election fraud undermines Democracy,” he wrote on X. “Deporting illegal aliens who vote in our elections is a good start, but the Senate needs to pass the SAVE Act to ensure our elections are safe and secure.”
The Percival directive builds on President Trump’s March 2025 executive order, “Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections,” which outlined changes to voter registration, voting machine standards, and mail‑in ballot rules. DHS said the new guidance helps implement that order’s goals of preventing noncitizen voting.
Recent prosecutions have given the policy immediate examples to draw from. In March, Mauritanian citizen Mahady Sacko was charged with voter fraud for allegedly voting in every presidential election since 2008. In May, four additional noncitizens were charged with illegally voting in multiple federal elections and making false statements on citizenship applications. Noncitizens are legally barred from participating in state and federal elections.
The enforcement push extends beyond ICE deportation referrals. In August 2025, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services updated its policy manual to bar green card holders who have voted or registered to vote from obtaining citizenship — a step that ties naturalization eligibility directly to electoral compliance.
Together, the measures signal a broader effort to attach immigration consequences to conduct federal law already prohibits. With the SAVE Act still pending in the Senate, the legislative piece of that strategy remains unresolved.
