Trump ramps up non-citizen voter hunt

With midterms approaching, the Trump administration has intensified investigations into non-citizen voting across the U.S., demanding states turn over voter rolls and threatening to withhold funding from those who don't comply.

DHS launches covert voter roll initiative

The administration has reportedly diverted federal personnel to scour voter rolls for non-citizens through an initiative called the Unlawful Voter Initiative, which a federal whistleblower alleged may have involved methods that violate state laws.

DHS claims widespread non-citizen voting

A Department of Homeland Security official tells TIME that Homeland Security Investigations is actively investigating election fraud and cites four past instances of non-citizen voting, warning that non-citizens who vote will face criminal charges and deportation.

“We will find you, arrest you, and you will face the consequences, including criminal charges and deportation.”

Actual arrests tell a different story

Federal officials revealed that DHS has pursued one thousand six hundred voter fraud cases since January two thousand twenty-five, of which one hundred sixty have led to arrests, representing roughly zero point zero zero zero zero nine percent of the roughly one hundred seventy-four million registered voters in the U.S.

Nevada finds no non-citizen voters

State election officials in Nevada reviewed suspected non-citizens that DHS flagged on the state's voter rolls and determined that every one of the voters was a U.S. citizen, contradicting federal claims.

Experts say the issue is minuscule

Stephen Richer, an elections expert at the CATO Institute, tells TIME there is no reason to think widespread non-citizen voting exists and that federal law enforcement announcements affirm this is a minuscule issue.

“There's no reason to think that there is widespread non-citizen voting.”

Trump's executive order on voter rolls

Two months after returning to office, Trump signed an Executive Order directing DHS to compare state voter rolls against federal databases to identify unqualified voters and the Department of Justice to prioritize prosecuting non-citizen voting.

Courts block administration's tactics

Of the more than thirty lawsuits the administration filed to gain access to state voter rolls, twenty-five have been dismissed. A judge on Monday blocked the administration from withholding counterterrorism funding from states that don't meet its election demands.

Trump pushes SAVE America Act

Trump has aggressively but unsuccessfully pushed Congress to pass the SAVE America Act, which would require voters to submit proof of citizenship documents to participate in elections and impose other voter ID restrictions.

Supreme Court backs SAVE database

The Supreme Court last week permitted the administration's overhauled version of the DHS database called Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements, or SAVE, to be used in verifying voter eligibility ahead of the midterms, despite privacy concerns.

Trump's sweeping Nevada claims collapse

In July, Trump claimed two hundred seventy-eight thousand non-citizens were on voting rolls in California, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Nevada. DHS later identified one hundred eighty-five suspected non-citizens in Nevada, but state review found all were U.S. citizens.

Nevada secretary of state rejects claims

Nevada Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar tells TIME the administration's accusations have been shockingly unprofessional and that Latino citizens have expressed fear of being classified as non-citizens at the polls in November.

“This is a direct attempt to dissuade and to interfere in elections and to prevent Latinos from voting.”

Research shows voting is vanishingly rare

A two thousand seventeen Brennan Center survey across forty-two jurisdictions in twelve states found just thirty incidents of suspected non-citizen voting in the two thousand sixteen presidential election, a rate of roughly one suspected case per seven hundred eighty-three thousand votes.

State audits find minimal cases

A two thousand twenty-five Michigan Department of State audit found only fifteen credible cases of non-citizens having cast ballots in the two thousand twenty-four election out of more than five point seven million total votes. Georgia reported twenty non-citizens on voter rolls out of eight point two million registered voters.

No incentive for non-citizens to vote

Justin Levitt, former White House senior policy advisor for democracy and voting rights, says non-citizen voting makes no sense because non-citizens face hefty fines and deportation, and there is always a paper trail connecting the person to the deed.

“It's exceedingly, exceedingly, exceedingly rare.”

Electoral impact is negligible

Stephen Richer emphasizes that the rare instances when non-citizens do vote have no bearing on election outcomes, saying the electoral impact is negligible and the problem is infinitesimal by all indicators to date.

“The electoral impact on this is negligible, beyond negligible.”