Armed federal agents are visiting homes across the United States as part of the Trump administration's efforts to crack down on alleged noncitizen voting, asking residents about their citizenship status and whether they have registered to vote. Photos shared by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Northern California and Kansas City showed agents knocking on doors as part of investigations into alleged noncitizen voting—something the Trump administration has been raising concerns about since January 2025. The government, and those calling for greater election security measures, argue the effort is necessary to protect election integrity, as only U.S. citizens are allowed to vote.
Critics argue door-to-door visits risk intimidating lawful voters and represent a significant expansion of federal involvement in voter-roll investigations, which were traditionally handled by the states. "It is deeply, deeply concerning on multiple levels. This is highly irregular and inappropriate in many ways, and they're using tactics designed to intimidate legitimate voters rather than address any significant problem," Wendy Weiser, vice president for democracy at the Brennan Center for Justice, told Newsweek Wednesday.
"The Trump administration has redirected huge numbers, huge amounts, of federal resources and federal agents from critical law enforcement duties in pursuit of the elusive pursuit of widespread noncitizen voting. Its actions continue to prove just the opposite of what they are trying to do. In fact, our election system does a good job, a very good job, of ensuring that minuscule exceptions that only eligible Americans are participating." Newsweek reached out to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for comment Wednesday.
HSI's posts on X indicate that agents who traditionally focus on cross-border issues such as drug trafficking and child sexual exploitation are now focused on alleged voter fraud. The posts, which include captions such as "American elections are for Americans," showed a clear shift in priorities for the agency, which is part of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
According to CBS News, agents were pulled from their regular assignments to assist with DHS' efforts to tackle noncitizen voters. "Anyone visited by a federal agent, citizen or not, should say nothing beyond 'I want to speak with a lawyer'," Patrick Eddington, a senior fellow with the libertarian Cato Institute, told Newsweek. "They should not open the door or allow entry unless shown a warrant signed by a judge, and a form signed by an agency official is not the same thing.
Knowingly making a materially false statement to a federal agent is a felony even when you’re not under oath. Silence is far safer than trying to explain yourself." It was not immediately clear how HSI was identifying targets or what their specific directives were, but DHS has repeatedly stated that it is seeking to detain those immigrants who break U.S. laws, including green card holders who vote in elections. "DHS says it is targeting 300,000 people using data it admits is inaccurate, both in public and internally," Beau Tremitiere, counsel and deputy director of impact programs for civic space and rule of law at Protect Democracy, told Newsweek.
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