DHS’s Unsubstantiated Claims on Noncitizen Voters Fuel Voter Suppression Agenda
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The Department of Homeland Security’s sensational claim of 250,000 noncitizen voters in four states is based on unverified data, with only a tiny portion confirmed in Nevada. Critics warn this narrative is part of a broader right-wing effort to undermine voting rights and stoke fear.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin recently announced that the department had identified 250,000 noncitizens registered to vote in Nevada, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and California, touting the figure as supposed evidence of widespread voter fraud. However, these numbers were generated by matching public voter rolls with federal immigration records—a process riddled with inaccuracies and lacking transparency. Even DHS officials admitted the data are preliminary and have not been fully vetted, yet the department continues to push this narrative.
In Nevada, DHS’s initial report of 15,903 noncitizen registrations quickly unraveled under scrutiny. After manual checks, only 185 cases were confirmed, while more than 14,000 remain unresolved, including 6,200 labeled as “higher confidence matches”—a category that could easily include naturalized citizens whose records have not been updated. This reckless approach risks targeting legitimate voters and feeding xenophobic hysteria.
“One thing that I love about numbers, and I love about facts, is they don’t lie,” Mullin said, ignoring the reality that manipulated statistics can be weaponized to justify voter suppression.
“We’re going to manually review to be sure that it is not someone’s dad or someone’s son – that it is that person,” said DHS fraud division lead Kimberley Vogt, as if the department’s flawed data matching process could be trusted.
Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar rightly warned that the department’s data are preliminary and that the state will not act on them without a high level of confidence, highlighting the real danger of disenfranchising eligible voters. DHS’s refusal to provide the full list of names, citing concerns about accuracy, further underscores the lack of transparency and accountability.
This entire effort is part of a broader campaign by the Trump administration and its allies to tighten voting rules and promote baseless claims of election insecurity, all in service of suppressing the vote, particularly among marginalized communities. Former Census Bureau officials have already criticized a recent Census analysis that claimed 24,000 noncitizens voted in 2020, pointing out its methodological flaws and clear bias.
Heather Honey, who leads DHS’s so-called “election integrity” unit, told Nevada officials the agency is cooperating in good faith and encouraged the state to investigate the matches before the midterm elections. Meanwhile, the department has threatened to withhold federal grants from states that refuse to comply with its restrictive election-security measures, using federal power to coerce states into adopting anti-democratic policies.