Washington, D.C. — A sweeping Trump administration effort to identify noncitizens who illegally voted has generated tens of thousands of investigative leads but only a few dozen election-related prosecutions, according to a ProPublica investigation based on internal emails, federal records and Justice Department data.
Homeland Security Investigations was directed to cross-reference state voter rolls with federal immigration databases, despite warnings from agency staff that incomplete identifying information could produce large numbers of false matches. Between January 2025 and May 2026, fewer than 150 suspected noncitizen voters were referred for prosecution, and just 41 were charged with voting illegally or related election offenses. More than 150 million people voted in the 2024 presidential election.
In Minnesota, investigators subpoenaed records involving about 130 people but referred only one case for prosecution. A senior federal prosecutor described the effort internally as “disjointed and disorganized.”
Career Justice Department lawyers also raised concerns that transferring voter data to Homeland Security could violate federal privacy protections. Some proposed safeguards were later abandoned.
The administration says the initiative is necessary to keep voter rolls accurate and prosecute illegal voting. However, state audits and previous studies have consistently found noncitizen voting to be exceedingly rare.
Former HSI officials also warned that redirecting agents toward election investigations has reduced resources available for drug trafficking, human trafficking and other complex federal cases.
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