Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin has sent formal letters to the secretaries of state in California, New Jersey, Nevada and Pennsylvania demanding that they cross-check voter rolls against federal immigration databases and remove people who are not U.S. citizens. The letters accuse the states of harboring more than 250,000 “potentially ineligible” voters and warn that failure to act could lead to the loss of federal security grants and possible civil or criminal penalties. Although voter-list maintenance is outside the traditional remit of U.S. immigration agencies, the directive is part of the Trump administration’s broader strategy of linking immigration status to election integrity ahead of the 2026 mid-terms. Mullin urged states to join DHS’s Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program—an optional database long criticized for false positives that can erroneously flag naturalized citizens. Election officials in all four states rejected the claims, noting that existing safeguards already prohibit non-citizens from registering and that documented cases of illegal voting are vanishingly rare. Civil-liberties groups argue that mass data-matching could wrongly purge naturalized voters and expose personal information, violating privacy laws. Several state attorneys general indicated they are prepared to litigate if DHS withholds funding. For mobility professionals the dust-up is more than political theater. Thousands of green-card holders and work-visa beneficiaries who are progressing toward naturalization live in the affected states; many fear that an aggressive data sweep could mistakenly classify them as non-citizens and jeopardize pending applications or future benefits. Employers sponsoring foreign talent should advise workers to maintain copies of naturalization certificates and consult counsel if they receive voter-eligibility notices. Legal analysts expect challenges under the National Voter Registration Act and the Administrative Procedure Act, setting up another courtroom battle over the federal government’s authority to use immigration data for non-immigration purposes. A preliminary injunction could arrive within weeks, but until then the letters have already added a new compliance wrinkle for HR teams managing mixed-status workforces.
Source: Reuters
