Noncitizen voters are working to avoid deportation by challenging the federal government’s authority to prosecute their cases.
At least five noncitizen voters prosecuted in separate cases in Florida and Wisconsin allege that a 1996 Voting by Aliens statute enacted three decades ago that federal officials are using to deport them is unconstitutional, and they’re asking judges to dismiss their cases ahead of trials set to begin next month, Reuters reports.
Ecuadorian Christian Erazo Valdez, who was charged last October with voting in the 2024 election, was the first to challenge his noncitizen voting case in March in federal court in Wisconsin.
A ruling on Valdez’s motion for dismissal is expected soon, while another case involving Jamaican Cheslea Cox is scheduled for oral arguments on Tuesday.
Defendants in the cases argue the Voting By Aliens statute that makes it illegal for noncitizens to vote in federal elections violates the U.S. Constitution, which they argue gives states the right to determine voter qualifications.
While states are required to ensure voters are citizens, the defendants contend it’s the responsibility of states, rather than the federal government, to prosecute violations.
The Department of Justice points to U.S. Supreme Court rulings that recognize Congress has a role in protecting the integrity of elections, citing laws that criminalize multiple votes in the same election. The DOJ also contends the Voting By Aliens statute was included in an Illegal Immigration Reform and Responsibility Act of 1996, signed into law by Democratic President Bill Clinton, which is focused on immigration, rather than regulating elections, Reuters reports.
Defendants are asking judges to dismiss their criminal charges before trials set to start on October 5 and run through December 14.
During President Donald Trump’s second term, the federal government has worked to deport noncitizen voters, who previously faced a fine of as little as $150 for the crime in the past.
At least one judge has already rejected a motion for dismissal.
Miami Judge Jacqueline Becerra last week sided with the Justice Department’s prosecution of Haitian Wilner Renaud, who entered the U.S. in 1993 and had a pending application for U.S. citizenship when he voted in the 2022 election, Reuters reports.
Renaud told investigators he believed he was a U.S. citizen.
The efforts to avoid deportation for illegal voting come as the 47th POTUS and Republicans work to boost election integrity ahead of the November midterms, and Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel pursues numerous cases against noncitizen voters in recent years.
Nessel last month filed charges against five noncitizens accused of illegal voting, attempting to vote, or registering in connection with the 2024 election, undermining Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s repeated claims that only citizens can vote in Michigan elections.
The Michigan Department of State referred 16 suspected noncitizen voting cases from the 2024 general election to the AG in 2025, followed by another 22 cases in 2026 involving suspected noncitizen voting or related conduct dating back to 2009.
Six cases resulted in criminal charges, 10 were closed without charges, and 22 remain under review, according to the Attorney General’s Office.
The charges brought by the AG’s office include election forgery, fraudulent registration, false statements on absentee ballot documents, election law perjury and attempting to vote as an unqualified elector. Several defendants face felony charges carrying potential prison sentences of four to seven years.
Benson’s office acknowledged in 2025 that at least 15 noncitizens appeared to have cast ballots in the 2024 general election after a review comparing voter records with driver’s license data. That followed the case of a Chinese national at the University of Michigan who illegally voted in 2024 and whose ballot was counted because election officials had no mechanism to retrieve it.
More recently, Macomb County Clerk Anthony Forlini, the Republican nominee for Secretary of State, identified over 1,000 noncitizens included in the jury pool despite their ineligibility, including dozens registered to vote in just one of Michigan’s 83 counties.
Under Michigan law, only U.S. citizens may serve on juries or vote in elections. However, they are automatically registered as voters when they apply for or renew a driver’s license unless they actively opt out. Applicants are asked to confirm citizenship by checking a box on a voter registration form, but Michigan does not verify that information against a federal citizenship database.
When Benson took office, Michigan had approximately 7.5 million registered voters, which was about 300,000 fewer than the voting-age population of roughly 7.8 million. Over the next several years, the state added 700,000 registrations, many automatically through driver’s license renewals, bringing the total to 8.2 million registered voters for a voting-age population of about 7.9 million by 2022, the same year Democrats regained full control of state government for the first time in four decades.
Forlini forwarded his findings to Benson’s Michigan Bureau of Elections on Jan. 13, April 28, and again on July 10, though it’s unclear what, if anything, the Secretary of State did with the information.
In January, Benson trashed Forlini for taking issue with noncitizens registered to vote in Macomb County, and attempted to connect the problem with a Department of Justice investigation into how states manage their voter databases and immigration enforcement in Minnesota.
“They’re using the power of the federal government to intimidate and threaten states into changing our safe and secure election procedures,” Benson alleged. “Why? To meet the president’s personal and political agenda, and to silence the voices of millions of eligible American citizens.”
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told the media in July his agency identified 250,000 noncitizens on the voter rolls in California, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Nevada using publicly available data.
About two dozen “proactive states” have also identified 28,000 noncitizens on voter rolls, as well as 400,000 registrations for deceased individuals, Mullin said as he urged states to leverage DHS’ SAVE program to vet voter registrations.
Also in July, DOJ Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon sent a letter to Benson warning about the consequences of failing to comply with federal voting laws that prohibit noncitizen voters, citing “potential criminal penalties for those who fail to carry out their duties.”
Dhillon warned that “any election officer, including the chief election officer of the state, who knowingly retains noncitizens on the state’s (state voter registration list) or facilitates noncitizens in receiving and casting ballots could be subject to criminal liability.”
The potential penalty includes fines and up to five years in prison.
