Key federal agencies did not provide records to support President Donald Trump’s claims that tens of thousands of noncitizens are registered to vote in several blue states, according to a lawsuit filed by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW). The lawsuit, submitted to a federal court in Washington, D.C., alleges that the administration is violating an open records law by not disclosing information regarding its methodology and data sources related to these claims.
During a primetime address in July, Trump asserted without evidence that 278,000 noncitizens were registered to vote in federal elections. This claim is part of a broader pattern of misinformation regarding voting fraud since his loss in the 2020 presidential election, as he advocates for new voting restrictions. CREW filed multiple Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to understand how the administration arrived at the 278,000 figure.
On the same day as Trump’s speech, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a statement claiming that 250,000 noncitizens are registered in states including California, Nevada, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Secretary Markwayne Mullin subsequently sent letters to state election officials regarding these alleged noncitizens.
The lawsuit seeks records from DHS to clarify how it calculated its figures. CREW noted that DHS has not disclosed its methodology despite requests from election officials in at least three of the four states involved. Without transparency, independent experts have suggested that the administration's figures cannot be verified and should not be trusted.
Another watchdog, American Oversight, has also filed a lawsuit against DHS for not responding to its FOIA requests concerning noncitizen voting records. The administration is facing several lawsuits related to its compliance with FOIA requests and court orders regarding its plans for midterm elections, including information about potential ballot seizures and federal agent deployments at polling places.
So far, the administration's search for evidence of widespread noncitizen voting has yielded minimal results. In Nevada, DHS initially reported that there were as many as 15,903 potential noncitizens illegally registered to vote, but this number was later revised to 185. Recent statements from Nevada election officials indicated that all flagged individuals are citizens.
In Pennsylvania, DHS acknowledged in late August that it lacked “high confidence” in its earlier claim that over 14,000 noncitizens were on the voter rolls. CREW stated that states had no means to verify DHS’s claims due to the lack of underlying data or methodology provided by the agency.
CREW also raised concerns about whether the administration complied with a federal court order that prohibited DHS from using its flawed Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) system to remove voters from registration rolls. The group noted that DHS was barred from using the modified SAVE system until the Supreme Court stayed the order on September 25, 2026.
CREW emphasized the need for these records to assess the validity of DHS’s claims, respond appropriately, and restore public confidence in the electoral process ahead of the midterm elections.