Overview
- An internal HSI memo directs all field offices to review open and closed voter-fraud cases to identify people who registered or voted before becoming citizens, with findings reported to the White House according to sources and documents.
- The initiative, described as launched at White House direction, instructs agents to consider federal charges listed in the memo, including false claims of citizenship and voter-registration fraud.
- The Justice Department is preparing to give HSI access to voter registration data for suspected noncitizens, while declining to provide all voter data over legal and reputational concerns, according to a DOJ official.
- Judges in several of the DOJ lawsuits seeking confidential state voter-roll data have ruled against the administration, and many states have resisted handing over full records.
- Experts say noncitizen voting is rare and the cited statutes require proof of knowing ineligibility; state data checks have produced many false positives, such as Idaho’s review shrinking 760 flags to about a dozen referrals, while discussions about deploying officers to polling sites have raised voter-intimidation concerns.