Undocumented Immigrants Who Attempt to Vote Face Prison Time, Warns DHS

The Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Markwayne Mullin, issued a stern warning this Friday to undocumented immigrants in the United States: those who have tried to vote illegally—or on behalf of someone else—will be identified and prosecuted without exception.

In videos shared by the White House and the DHS on social media, Mullin announced that the federal government has already identified 256,463 non-citizens potentially registered to vote in four states: California (190,832), New Jersey (35,152), Nevada (15,903), and Pennsylvania (14,576).

On the same day, he sent official letters to the Secretaries of State of these four states, demanding the verification and removal of ineligible registrations within two weeks.

Escalating Concerns Over Voter Registration

"We have identified 250,000 non-citizens registered to vote in just four states. We have 46 more states," Mullin warned, emphasizing that the number could increase significantly as the national review progresses.

Beyond the records in those four states—obtained through public voter files without direct access to state databases—the DHS collaborated with states that do cooperate with the federal government to detect an additional 28,000 non-citizens on their rolls.

This is compounded by 400,000 deceased individuals who remain registered to vote.

Legal Ramifications and Government Initiatives

Mullin was clear in stating that the Real ID system does not certify citizenship nor grant the right to vote: "You must be a U.S. citizen and eligible to vote."

The Secretary announced that the government will review electoral records before and after the midterm elections in November 2026, including early voting, and that in states not cooperating with federal authorities, public records will still be utilized.

The penalties are severe. According to Mullin, illegal registration and voting can result in up to five years in prison and fines up to $250,000. "We will apply maximum pressure on this," he asserted.

He framed the initiative as a matter of public trust, not political affiliation: "Every American, regardless of political affiliation, needs to know that when they participate in our democracy by voting, their vote will be secure and counted accurately. Anything less is unacceptable."

Legislative and Judicial Developments

The SAVE America Act, pushed by Trump to require documentary proof of citizenship when registering to vote in federal elections, was passed by the House of Representatives in February 2026 but remains stalled in the Senate.

This effort is part of the Trump administration's campaign to bolster electoral security ahead of November 2026.

The DHS's SAVE (Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements) program has already processed 67 million voter records between March and May of this year.

However, a federal court ruling on June 23 temporarily blocked the use of this database to purge state rolls, after false positives were found affecting naturalized citizens, particularly Latinos.

Impact on Cuban and Other Undocumented Immigrants

The warning has direct implications for Cubans and other immigrants with irregular immigration status. A Cuban woman with a deportation order since 1999 was sentenced in January of this year to five years in prison in Arkansas for voting illegally in the November 2024 elections.

Similarly, a Cuban man with revoked permanent residency pleaded guilty in Florida and was sentenced in February 2026 for the same offense.