Trump Cites Census Report Claiming 24,000 Noncitizens Voted in 2020

President Donald Trump announced that a U.S. Census Bureau analysis identified more than 24,000 noncitizens who voted illegally in the 2020 general election. The preliminary review examined 128 million of approximately 160 million total ballots by linking voter records with federal administrative data. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick stated that the remaining 32 million records yet to be analyzed could reveal tens of thousands of additional illegal voters.

Trump used the findings to reiterate claims that he won the 2020 election and to urge Congress to pass the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act, which would require physical proof of citizenship for registration. However, the report has faced intense criticism from former Census Bureau officials and statisticians. Critics describe the unsigned document as flawed and lacking transparency, noting it was produced by affiliates of the America First Policy Institute rather than career civil servants. They argue the findings likely result from matching errors using commercial data from Data-Clear that lacked unique identifiers.

Parallel to the report, the administration deployed Homeland Security Investigations in a nationwide campaign to prosecute noncitizen voters. Internal records show the effort yielded meager results, with only 41 people charged out of 150 million voters between January 2025 and May 2026. State officials in Georgia and Nevada have questioned the Census findings, with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger requesting the underlying data for verification. Experts note that even if the 24,000 figure were accurate, it represents less than 0.02% of ballots and would not have altered the 2020 election outcome.