The Department of Homeland Security has notified election officials in California, New Jersey, Nevada and Pennsylvania that a preliminary review identified more than 256,000 potential noncitizen voters registered across the four states, according to letters obtained by Fox News Digital. DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin wrote that his department compared publicly available voter registration records with federal immigration data and found thousands of possible matches. He asked state officials to work with DHS on identity verification before taking any action.
The July 11 letters detail estimated noncitizen registrations in each state: California at 190,832, New Jersey at 35,152, Nevada at 15,903 and Pennsylvania at 14,576. DHS said it matched 81,336 California registrants, 19,497 from New Jersey, 8,576 from Nevada and 8,594 from Pennsylvania whose names, dates of birth, addresses and Social Security numbers align with noncitizens in federal records. The department noted that many lawful permanent residents, authorized workers and certain visa holders are legally issued Social Security numbers, which it used as one identifier among several in the matching process.
What the Right Is Saying
Trump administration officials and Republican election integrity advocates say even a small number of noncitizens voting undermines the fundamental principle that only U.S. citizens should participate in federal elections. DHS Secretary Mullin wrote that "allowing just one non-citizen to vote cancels the vote of one U.S. citizen." Supporters argue that states maintain voter rolls while the federal government holds immigration records, making collaboration essential for accurate citizenship verification.
Conservative commentators have praised the administration's push for closer cooperation between state and federal agencies on election security. They contend that previous administrations failed to use available federal data to verify voter eligibility. Some Republican officials have called on the four states to respond by the July 24 deadline set in the letters and work with DHS to resolve discrepancies before future elections.
What the Left Is Saying
Democratic election officials and voting rights advocates have raised concerns about the methodology and potential for error in such database matches. Critics note that DHS characterized its findings as preliminary and that verification is required before any action is taken. Some argue that matching Social Security numbers alone does not account for name changes, data entry errors or individuals who became naturalized citizens after initial records were created. Voting rights groups have warned that aggressive purges of voter rolls based on imperfect matches could disenfranchise eligible voters, particularly in communities with common names or complex immigration histories.
Progressive advocates contend that instances of actual noncitizen voting remain extremely rare and that the focus on this issue distracts from broader election security concerns. They point to previous studies showing noncitizen participation in elections is statistically insignificant and argue that robust verification processes already exist at the state level. Some Democratic officials have also noted concerns about federal overreach into state-administered elections.
What the Numbers Show
The DHS letters cite these estimated noncitizen registrations by state: California (190,832), New Jersey (35,152), Nevada (15,903) and Pennsylvania (14,576). The department identified matching records for 81,336 registrants in California, 19,497 in New Jersey, 8,576 in Nevada and 8,594 in Pennsylvania who share names, dates of birth, addresses and Social Security numbers with noncitizens in federal databases. These figures represent potential matches requiring verification rather than confirmed ineligible voters.
The letters request state election officials contact DHS by July 24 to begin the record-sharing process ahead of future federal elections. State officials have not yet publicly responded to requests for comment from Fox News Digital.
The Bottom Line
DHS has presented these findings as preliminary and acknowledged that collaborative identity verification is needed before any conclusions can be drawn about voter eligibility. The four affected states must decide whether to cooperate with the federal review by the July 24 deadline. What happens next will likely depend on whether state officials agree to share voter registration data with DHS for cross-referencing against immigration records. Election security experts say the outcome of this process could set precedent for how federal and state agencies coordinate on voter roll maintenance ahead of future elections.