President Trump promised that only American citizens would choose American leaders. Federal investigators are now reaching into local voter files to back it up. A new report says Immigration and Customs Enforcement and its Homeland Security Investigations arm obtained individual voter files in Webb County, Texas this spring and in Forsyth County, North Carolina last November. The requests came as part of probes into alleged noncitizen voting. This is what election integrity looks like when it stops being a slogan and starts running through federal enforcement machinery. Mark Meadows pointed to the same enforcement turn after the DHS directive surfaced: The Washington Examiner published Carter Schroppe’s report on June 13, 2026, with an update early the next morning. According to the report, the Webb County request began with an HSI criminal analyst seeking voter information including dates and methods of registration and which elections a person voted in. Webb County Election Administrator Jose Castillo told the outlet it was the first time he had received such a request, and he directed HSI toward public-records requests going forward. Castillo also said he had seen two instances of an illegal immigrant voting out of more than 150,000 voters across four years. The report attributes the underlying emails to Democracy Forward records requests shared with Axios. The federal posture firmed up just days earlier. On June 9, 2026, the Department of Homeland Security announced that General Counsel James Percival directed ICE to enforce stricter penalties, including deportation, for aliens who illegally vote in American elections. Here is how the Department of Homeland Security laid it out: The Immigration and Nationality Act directs the removal of aliens who illegally vote in American elections. WASHINGTON – The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released the following statement after DHS General Counsel James Percival directed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to enforce stricter penalties, including deportation, for aliens who illegally vote in American elections. In a letter to ICE leadership, DHS points out that the Immigration and Nationality Act directs the removal of aliens who illegally vote or make a false claim to U.S. citizenship, which often go hand-in-hand. These provisions even allow for the removal of aliens legally in the U.S. if they illegally participate in our elections. A criminal conviction is not required to invoke these provisions. “The importance of free, fair, and honest elections is without question. Echoing the words of President Trump, ‘the right of American citizens to have their votes properly counted and tabulated, without illegal dilution, is vital to determining the rightful winner of an election,'” said DHS General Counsel James Percival. “Illegal voting by aliens dilutes the votes of American citizens and undermines our democracy. It must have consequences.” That last line carries weight. The removal authority does not wait on a courtroom verdict. The policy also landed in the middle of a larger public fight over whether the law should be enforced at all: None of this is freelancing. It traces back to a clear policy backbone. On March 31, 2026, President Trump signed an executive order on citizenship verification and integrity in federal elections. Here is the core of what The White House ordered: Section 1. Purpose and Policy. The right to vote in Federal elections is reserved exclusively for citizens of the United States under the Constitution and Federal law. Federal statutes explicitly prohibit non-citizens from registering to vote or voting in Federal elections and impose criminal penalties for violations. The Social Security Administration (SSA) maintains records that, in conjunction with the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program under 42 U.S.C. 1320b-7, can assist in verifying identity and Federal election voter eligibility. The Federal Government has an unavoidable duty under Article II of the Constitution of the United States to enforce Federal law, which includes preventing violations of Federal criminal law and maintaining public confidence in election outcomes. To enhance election integrity via the United States Mail, additional measures are necessary. Secure ballot envelope identifiers provide a reliable, auditable mechanism to enforce Federal law without unduly burdening or infringing on the rights of eligible voters. Unique ballot envelope identifiers, such as bar codes, enable confirmation that only citizens receive and cast ballots, reducing the risk of fraud and protecting the integrity of Federal elections. The order also directs DHS, USCIS, the Justice Department, and the Postal Service to act on citizenship lists, ballot-mail safeguards, investigations, and prosecutions. That is the chain. Executive order at the top, DHS legal directive in the middle, and federal investigators now requesting actual local voter records on the ground. The honest caveat belongs here. The voter-file requests establish an investigative trail rather than a statewide tally, and Castillo’s own count was small. The principle still stands regardless of headcount. Even a handful of illegal votes cancels out the lawful votes of citizens, and the law gives the government a duty to look. For years Americans were told that worrying about noncitizen voting was paranoia and that the federal government had no business checking. President Trump’s team is checking.