Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin issued a stark warning Tuesday to noncitizens considering casting a ballot in the midterm elections, vowing that his agency would pursue and prosecute anyone ineligible to vote.
“If you vote illegally in this country, and you are NOT eligible to vote, @DHSgov will find you, hunt you down, and you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Mullin wrote on X. “Only American citizens should be deciding American elections.”
Immigration and Customs Enforcement amplified the message with its own post, stating, “There will be no escape.” The agency’s social media account has increasingly become a platform for enforcement announcements under the Trump administration.
Federal law already prohibits noncitizens from voting in national elections, though a handful of municipalities and states allow noncitizens to participate in local races. The administration has made removing noncitizens from voter rolls a priority ahead of Tuesday’s contests, sending letters to election officials and, in some cases, initiating legal action against states that refuse to share voter data.
The Justice Department earlier accused California of maintaining more than 20,000 “likely noncitizens” on its rolls, a figure that outside analyses have disputed. A federal judge recently ordered the administration to stop threatening California election officials with criminal prosecution over the matter. Similarly, DHS claimed Nevada had nearly 16,000 possible noncitizen voters, but after state officials investigated, that number was revised down to just 185—all of whom were confirmed U.S. citizens.
Critics point out that there is no comprehensive federal database of all U.S. citizens, and existing records are often outdated or inaccurate. Multiple studies have found that noncitizen voting is extremely rare in American elections. Earlier this year, New Jersey discovered a software glitch that erroneously registered more than 6,000 noncitizens, but fewer than 400 of them actually voted. Governor Mikie Sherrill said the issue was fixed once her office was notified.
The administration’s aggressive stance has drawn sharp rebukes from Democrats and some Republicans. California Governor Gavin Newsom fired back on X, adopting ICE’s language: “If YOU show up to the polls illegally, we will find you. We will track you down, arrest you, and prosecute you. There will be no escape.” Former Representative Adam Kinzinger, a Republican critic of Trump, mocked the threat, writing, “Watch out!! ICE is gonna deport the literally dozens of people who do this.”
With polls closing across the country starting at 6 p.m. EST, the midterm elections are already underway. The administration’s warnings come as Republicans face potential losses in key Senate races, and some GOP figures have warned that the Iran conflict could be a drag on their prospects, as DeSantis recently cautioned. Meanwhile, Newsom has floated the possibility of a Democratic wave, and filmmaker Ken Burns has framed the midterms as a fight for democracy itself, as he argued in a recent interview.
