Federal Agents Arrest Noncitizens for Illegal Voting in Multiple States

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security and other federal agencies have launched a broad crackdown on noncitizen voting, resulting in arrests and charges across several states. In North Carolina, federal agents arrested 10 foreign nationals on October 14 and 15, including nine green card holders and one undocumented immigrant from El Salvador. Some of these individuals are accused of voting in as many as eight general elections between 2004 and 2024.

In New York, federal prosecutors charged Marva Cook, a 66-year-old Syracuse resident and former basketball star, with voting illegally in the 2022 midterm elections. While prosecutors state Cook has held a green card for several years, Cook claims she believed she was a U.S. citizen until she recently discovered a German birth certificate. She faces a misdemeanor charge that could lead to a year in prison, a $100,000 fine, and deportation.

These actions are part of a wider Trump administration initiative to eliminate noncitizen voting. Recent enforcement efforts have also seen charges filed against more than two dozen residents in California and 10 people in Minnesota. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin stated that the individuals in North Carolina knowingly violated the law, while First Assistant U.S. Attorney John A. Sarcone III claimed the Syracuse case demonstrates that voter fraud is rampant in New York.