If you're living in this country illegally, you don't get to vote in our elections. That's the law. It's been the law for a long time.
Now DHS is actually going to enforce it.
DHS directs ICE to deport illegal immigrants who vote in American elections under new directivehttps://t.co/YOEkowkeVC
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) June 9, 2026
The New Memo
On Monday, DHS General Counsel James Percival sent a letter to ICE leadership. If an illegal immigrant votes in a U.S. election, ICE should treat that as grounds for deportation.
The Immigration and Nationality Act already says aliens who illegally vote can be removed. DHS is telling ICE to use that rule.
Percival said illegal voting by noncitizens dilutes the votes of American citizens and undermines our democracy. It has to have consequences.
I'd say “duh,” but apparently that's controversial in some circles.
The Receipts Are Piling Up
People love to say noncitizen voting “barely ever happens.”
But the goal shouldn't be “barely ever;” it should be never. Yet we're seeing case after case.
In March, a Mauritanian citizen named Mahady Sacko got charged with voting in every presidential election going back to 2008. Every one. You can't call that an accident. That's nearly two decades of doing it on purpose.
In May, four more noncitizens got charged with illegally voting in federal elections, on top of lying about their citizenship status when they applied to become citizens.
Back in August 2025, USCIS updated its rules so that green card holders who voted or registered to vote (which they can't legally do) can no longer qualify for citizenship.
Turns out “I broke election law on my way to becoming a citizen” doesn't help your application.
Small Numbers, Big Problems
Some say the numbers are small compared to millions of votes cast, but most Americans understand the number doesn't have to be huge to have an effect.
In a close race, a handful of illegal votes can swing the outcome. We just had a primary here in Nevada where some races came down to a few dozen votes.
When margins are that thin, “it's a small number” isn't comforting. It's the whole problem.
Nevada Should Be Watching This
Nevada has been ground zero for election integrity fights for years. Mail ballots, photo ID, same-day registration, you name it.
This DHS directive ties into President Trump's March 2025 executive order on election integrity, which covers voter registration, voting machines, and mail-in ballot rules.
Nevada election officials will have to figure out how this fits with our state's rules, especially with our universal mail ballot system still in place.
If Nevada wants clean elections, this kind of enforcement should be welcomed, not fought. If you know someone is here illegally, and even undermining the integrity of our elections while they're at it, deportation makes sense.
It's a low bar. Let's see who can't clear it anyway.
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