Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin is demanding answers from four states after a preliminary DHS review flagged more than 256,000 possible noncitizen registrations on voter rolls, giving President Donald Trump fresh ammunition after his national address on election security.
The Department of Homeland Security sent letters to election officials in California, New Jersey, Nevada and Pennsylvania asking them to work with federal officials to verify voter-roll data before future federal elections.
According to the letters obtained by Fox News Digital, DHS estimates there may be as many as 190,832 noncitizens registered to vote in California, 35,152 in New Jersey, 15,903 in Nevada and 14,576 in Pennsylvania.
DHS said it found 81,336 California registrants, 19,497 New Jersey registrants, 8,576 Nevada registrants and 8,594 Pennsylvania registrants whose names, dates of birth, addresses and Social Security numbers matched noncitizens in DHS records.
The department described the findings as preliminary and asked the states to help verify the identities before any action is taken.
Mullin said the federal government has immigration records that states need to keep their voter rolls clean.
“The most efficient way to ensure the accuracy of our findings is to work collaboratively on identity verification,” Mullin wrote.
He also warned that election integrity is not a small matter.
“allowing just one non-citizen to vote cancels the vote of one U.S. citizen.”
The letters ask the secretaries of state to contact DHS by July 24 so the department can begin sharing records and assisting with verification.
🚨 JUST IN: DHS Sec. Markwayne Mullin just CONFIRMED a bombshell US report found nearly 250,000 NON-CITIZENS registered to vote in 4 STATES…
…he still has 46 OTHER STATES to comb through
California, New Jersey, Nevada and Pennsylvania.
SAVE AMERICA ACT NOW! pic.twitter.com/XNPXx7W7C3
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) July 17, 2026
The move came one day after Trump used a prime-time address to hammer election security and call again for passage of the SAVE America Act.
The bill would require proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote in federal elections and photo identification to cast a ballot.
Democrats have fought the measure, insisting noncitizen voting is rare and accusing Trump of trying to interfere with elections.
But Republicans say the DHS findings show why proof of citizenship should not be controversial in the first place.
Noncitizens are already barred from voting in federal elections.
The fight is over whether states are doing enough to make sure they are not registered.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office pushed back by pointing to a statement he posted on X.
“California law is clear: You MUST be a U.S. citizen to vote state and federal elections,” Newsom said on X. “Voter fraud is EXTREMELY RARE — and almost always committed by U.S. citizens.”
California’s secretary of state has challenged the Justice Department’s demand for statewide voter registration data and has not turned over the information, according to the office.
Los Angeles County also said it had not turned over information to the state.
The top election officials in California, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Nevada did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital requests for comment.
California Democratic Assemblymember Marc Berman accused Trump and Mullin of chasing conspiracy theories instead of real problems.
“If Secretary Mullin wants to investigate voter fraud in America, I suggest he start with his boss,” Berman said. “The only person who has been caught demanding that elections officials make up thousands of votes is President Donald J. Trump, who begged the Georgia Secretary of State to ‘find 11,780 votes’ to steal the 2020 presidential election.”
Democrats and election groups argue many suspected noncitizen registrations have later turned out to be false positives.
Reuters reported that DHS did not publicly provide evidence to corroborate its overall tallies in its statement.
Still, conservatives argue the numbers are too serious for Democrat-run states to wave away with the usual “rare” talking point.
Many noncitizens are legally issued Social Security numbers, including green card holders, work-authorized immigrants and certain visa holders.
DHS said it used Social Security numbers as one of several identifiers when comparing voter registration records with federal immigration data.
The Trump administration has been pushing states to work more closely with federal agencies on voter eligibility, arguing that state officials cannot fully verify citizenship without access to federal immigration records.
Trump has also pressed Republicans in Congress to pass the SAVE America Act, but the measure has stalled in the Senate amid Democratic opposition and resistance from some Republicans over timing and procedure.
For the White House, the issue is simple: American elections should be decided by American citizens only.
For Democrats, the response has been to attack Trump, dismiss the concern and insist the system is already secure.
But after Trump’s national address and Mullin’s letters to four states, the issue is not going away.
DHS is now telling California, New Jersey, Nevada and Pennsylvania to help verify thousands of names.
That is not a conspiracy theory.
