Donald Trump has directed the Department of Homeland Security to begin a nationwide voter-fraud enforcement campaign in several pivotal states as Republicans prepare for a fiercely contested midterm election.
Starting Tuesday, Homeland Security Investigations—the investigative division of Immigration and Customs Enforcement—will begin a “coordinated criminal voter fraud surge initiative” focused on pursuing leads, conducting field interviews and assisting with prompt prosecutorial reviews, CNN reports.
The campaign is intended to investigate Trump’s claims that widespread fraud, including voting by undocumented immigrants, has compromised recent elections. Agents in nine states will be authorized to follow investigative leads through mid-October.
The first phase is expected to include Washington, Wisconsin, Missouri, Georgia, California, Pennsylvania, Nevada, New York and Connecticut.
According to CNN, agents have been instructed to take visible investigative action as the midterm campaign season begins.
The Justice Department has traditionally advised against such measures during an active election period, seeking to prevent law enforcement activity from affecting the electoral process.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, who succeeded Kristi Noem after Trump dismissed her in March, has sought to make the department a central force in the president’s campaign against alleged election fraud.
DHS has pressed states to provide voter-registration records for review, while Mullin has repeatedly warned that states could lose federal grant money if they decline to implement the administration’s election policies.
Donald Trump has directed Homeland Security to begin a nationwide voter-fraud campaign in key swing states as Republicans prepare for a tough midterm contest
Homeland Security Investigations, ICE’s investigative division, will lead a “coordinated criminal voter fraud surge initiative” involving investigative leads, field interviews and prosecutorial review
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Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin has sought to make the department a major part of the administration’s effort to investigate alleged election fraud
“DHS is laser-focused on prosecuting and removing aliens who vote and preventing the dilution of the votes of US citizens,” a Homeland Security spokesperson told Our News Outlet.
“Our message to aliens who vote in American elections is clear: We will find you, arrest you, and you will face the consequences—including criminal charges and deportation.”
HSI, which is overseeing the expanded voter-fraud investigation, has traditionally focused on serious offenses including human trafficking, drug smuggling and child exploitation.
Mullin has already assigned an unusually large number of investigators to review the voting records of suspected noncitizens who may have illegally registered or cast ballots in previous elections.
HSI agents were earlier instructed to work with US Citizenship and Immigration Services on removal proceedings involving noncitizens suspected of committing voter fraud or having ties to such allegations.
Despite the scale of the initiative, the Trump administration has so far sent relatively few voter-fraud cases to prosecutors.
Earlier this summer, Mullin said a DHS audit had identified more than 250,000 noncitizens on public voter rolls in California, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Nevada.
“One thing that I love about numbers, and I love about facts, is they don’t lie,” Mullin told reporters at the time.
The latest operation, scheduled to begin Tuesday, comes as congressional Republicans confront the possibility of losing their majorities in both the House and Senate.
