Federal agents may have already broken state laws while searching for noncitizens on voter rolls as part of a sweeping Trump administration operation, according to a whistleblower’s bombshell report.
Agents working on the Department of Homeland Security’s “Unlawful Voter Initiative” were reportedly expected to complete at least 40 investigations during each eight-hour shift — leaving roughly 12 minutes to examine each voter.
The rushed reviews relied on questionable data and may have improperly flagged eligible U.S. citizens, The New York Times reported Monday.
“In other words,” the whistleblower’s account said, “the current process is knowingly sweeping known U.S. citizens in as potentially ‘unlawful voters.’”
Investigators reportedly used personal information, including birth dates and partial Social Security numbers, to access state websites intended for voters checking their own records. The whistleblower warned that doing so could violate state laws.
Homeland Security attorneys told agents they would not be “personally liable” for properly documented searches conducted as part of their official duties, according to the Times report.
But the government watchdog group Democracy Defenders rejected that statement, writing in a report that “there may be legal implications for accessing these websites. “Yet they are still requiring officers to engage in this illegal activity with promises of personal liability protection.”
Agents also raised concerns about the origin and accuracy of the operation’s source data, with DHS officials saying at one point that “supplemental magic” had been used to add some immigration information to it.
The data reportedly included identification numbers assigned to noncitizens that remain in federal records even after they become naturalized citizens. The whistleblower’s report suggested that agents feared relying on that information could falsely identify lawful voters and potentially amount to falsifying federal records, which would violate federal law.
DHS did not respond to the Times’ request for comment. Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Alex Padilla (D-CA) demanded Sunday that Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin halt the operation.
BREAKING: A whistleblower is alleging that immigration agency USCIS directed officers to misrepresent themselves to access state voter records, then label people “unlawful voters” — including U.S. citizens — using unreliable data. Story to come. pic.twitter.com/BZkpgClrdW — Democracy Docket (@DemocracyDocket) September 14, 2026
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