ICE gets voter files from Texas, North Carolina counties

Federal immigration investigators have obtained individual voter registration files from local election officials in Texas and North Carolina as part of a broader Trump administration initiative to investigate noncitizen voting. The actions follow a recent directive from the Department of Homeland Security to enforce stricter penalties, including deportation, for noncitizens who vote illegally.

According to records, agents from Homeland Security Investigations, an investigative unit within U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, requested and received voter files from Webb County, Texas, in May. The files can include registration history, addresses, dates of birth, driver's license numbers, and voting history. A separate request was made to Forsyth County, North Carolina, last November for information on two specific voters. Webb County Election Administrator Jose Castillo stated this was the first such request he had received in his four-year tenure. He said he has since directed HSI to submit future requests through standard public records channels.

Castillo noted that, out of more than 150,000 voters in Webb County over four years, he was aware of only two confirmed...