A mysterious inquiry reached Nevada’s state election office last month when a Fox News reporter questioned the state’s response to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) claims regarding more than 15,000 noncitizens on its voter rolls. Election officials were left confused, as they had no record or knowledge of the source of such claims. Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar said that his office responded by clarifying they were unaware of the basis for the assertion, noting that they operate strictly on facts rather than anecdotal allegations or claims made out of thin air.
The situation escalated three days later when DHS publicly announced that an analysis of public voter data identified over 250,000 potential noncitizens registered in Nevada, California, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Officials in all four states expressed shock, disputing the findings and criticizing the department for failing to provide the methodology or the specific names of the individuals in question. This announcement coincided with a primetime address by President Donald Trump, who stated he was declassifying information intended to expose vulnerabilities in the national election system.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, who has long supported Trump’s claims regarding election fraud, emphasized his department’s role following the president’s speech. Since replacing Kristi Noem in March, Mullin has pushed the agency to become a primary instrument in the administration’s efforts to target election integrity. This shift includes the promotion of Heather Honey, a researcher known for challenging the 2020 election results, to the position of senior counselor to the secretary. Under the current administration, DHS has increasingly pivoted away from its traditional role of supporting election security to focusing on voter fraud investigations.
The department has leaned heavily on Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), a branch of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, to conduct this work. A DHS spokesperson stated that HSI is actively investigating election fraud wherever it can be found. However, internal communications obtained by reveal that agents have spent months pressuring local election officials for voter records to build criminal cases. In one instance, an agent admitted that voter fraud investigations are not typically part of HSI’s standard operations, noting the pressure to meet specific timelines.
The scope of these investigations has been broad, with agents tasked with verifying the voting histories of thousands of individuals flagged as potential noncitizens. In Franklin County, Ohio, inquiries expanded to include canvassing groups, such as the Ohio Organizing Collaborative. Meanwhile, in Fort Bend County, Texas, HSI issued subpoenas for election records before even providing a list of names for verification. Critics, including Brendan Fischer of the Campaign Legal Center, have described these tactics as a desperate attempt to substantiate claims that have failed to materialize through standard federal programs like the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE).
DHS has also sought to revisit the 2020 election. In February, HSI contacted the Arizona attorney general’s office to inquire about previous election reviews, specifically questioning claims regarding late-arriving ballots in Maricopa County. The agent involved expressed urgency, requesting materials by the end of the business day. The office provided documents from an earlier investigation conducted by former Republican Attorney General Mark Brnovich. These inquiries ceased following the personnel changes at the top of the department in March.
Despite the administration’s claims, the reality on the ground has proven complex. In Nevada, DHS recently requested a virtual meeting with state officials to discuss the thousands of potential noncitizens purportedly registered to vote. A Nevada official delayed the meeting, demanding an explanation of how the department arrived at its figures. DHS eventually offered to provide its process and a list of suspected noncitizens during a call, to which the state official agreed. As the administration continues its push, officials in various states maintain that they require transparent, verifiable data before engaging in further discussions. The report also notes that no one knew where the claim had come from. The report also notes that some Republican officials balked at them, publicly and privately. The report also notes that “If the election officials – once we gave them the information they need to secure their elections, and they chose not to – then those individuals can also be held accountable by fines, by penalties, and even, depending. The report also notes that “We just responded very plainly, like we have no idea what you’re talking about,” Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar told. The report also notes that his allies hailed the findings as a bombshell. The report also notes that he touted his department’s noncitizen findings, urged more states to collaborate, and delivered a stark warning, at a press conference on the White House grounds. The report also notes that “If the election officials – once we gave them the information they need to secure their elections, and they chose not to – then those individuals can also be held accountable by fines, by penalties, and even, depending on how far it goes, prison,” Mullin said. The report also notes that dHS has pushed states to share their voter rolls for audit and vowed to withhold grant funding from those that refuse to adopt a broader set of election reforms.