Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the investigative division of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), sought specific voter files from county election officials in Texas in May, according to an Axios report based on emails obtained by advocacy group Democracy Forward through public records requests.
A separate report showed another ICE staffer with the Office of the Principal Legal Advisor (OPLA) asking for registration information for two voters in Forsyth County, North Carolina, in November 2025.
According to EL Pais, a request had been made to officials in Webb County, which includes the border city of Laredo, home to more than 269,000 residents per Census estimates for July 2025. In an email sent May 12, a special agent from the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) unit in that area asked the county election administrator directly for the voter registration documents and voting records of seven voters.
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In an earlier exchange, in April, another HSI criminal analyst in Victoria, Texas, wrote to the Office of the Texas Secretary of State asking how to obtain voter information including registration dates, the method by which voters had registered and the elections in which they had voted.
President Donald Trump had repeatedly insisted on the idea of electoral fraud since 2016, and he did so again in 2020, after losing the popular vote in both elections. He also revived the claim in the 2024 elections, saying that Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris beat him because of fraud. These claims have received criticism from not just Democrats, but also members of Trump’s own party.
“Trump’s continued insistence that voter fraud is why Republicans lose elections has been very harmful for the party,” Republican former Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson stated in 2024.
According to Politifact, electoral fraud in the United States is “statistically rare and not enough to change the outcome of federal elections,” and that the few known cases ended in criminal convictions.
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DHS recently issued a statement after DHS General Counsel James Percival directed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to enforce stricter penalties, including deportation, for “aliens who illegally vote in American elections.”
“The importance of free, fair, and honest elections is without question. Echoing the words of President Trump, ‘the right of American citizens to have their votes properly counted and tabulated, without illegal dilution, is vital to determining the rightful winner of an election,” said DHS General Counsel James Percival. “Illegal voting by aliens dilutes the votes of American citizens and undermines our democracy. It must have consequences.”
Earlier this month, there was also talk about the possibility of ICE being deployed at polling stations. While the White House and a top DHS official previously said there are no plans to deploy ICE agents to polling sites, concerns still persisted.