noncitizen voting – A long-time U.S. green card holder says she was told she could vote in local elections—then CBP detained her at the airport and initiated removal proceedings.
A noncitizen long living in Kansas says she was given the impression she could vote in local elections.. When she returned to the U.S.. through customs in March, U.S.. Customs and Border Protection detained her for more than 30 hours and threatened her with deportation—after questioning led officers to conclude she had voted illegally.
Estelle, 57, has held permanent resident status for years and is familiar with the mechanics of returning to the country.. She had been traveling back from visits to relatives in her native France when officers detained her at a U.S.. port of entry, according to her attorney.. She spent the night in a holding cell on a concrete slab and. during the encounter. was told deportation could follow.. She asked that her last name not be used because of safety concerns.
The case hinges on a single admission made during customs questioning: Estelle acknowledged that she had voted in a local election despite not being a U.S.. citizen.. A limited number of U.S.. localities allow noncitizens to vote in certain elections, but Lawrence, Kansas—where she is based—is not one of them.. Kansas and federal law both require U.S.. citizenship in order to register to vote.
Immigration and election experts say her situation reflects a new intensity in federal efforts to identify and prosecute noncitizens who are alleged to have voted. even though evidence over time has suggested such incidents are rare.. The Trump administration has repeatedly claimed millions of noncitizens vote. a figure that is not supported by the body of cases that have surfaced.. In addition, experts note many “noncitizen voting” cases ultimately involve voters who register by mistake or otherwise misunderstand the rules.
CBP’s involvement is at the center of the dispute.. Historically, U.S.. Customs and Border Protection has not been a routine participant in election-fraud investigations.. In Estelle’s case. however. a transcript of her customs interview—provided to her attorney—shows the agency had flagged her for additional scrutiny and that officers appeared to know her voting history before questioning concluded.
During the interview. Estelle told officers she believed she was allowed to vote in local elections after she was told so when renewing her driver’s license.. She said an employee at a state motor vehicles department told her she was eligible.. DHS officials in prior administrations have stressed they have not commonly seen voting-related suspicions handled at ports of entry.
Kerry Doyle. a deputy general counsel at the Department of Homeland Security during the Biden administration. said she had never heard of someone being detained at a port of entry on suspicion of voting illegally.. Her description captured a broader concern among immigration lawyers: that a process designed for border screening is being used in a way that resembles criminal investigation.
A CBP spokesperson confirmed that officers detained a woman matching Estelle’s description at the Detroit airport and placed her into removal proceedings.. The spokesperson did not answer whether the agency is routinely asking noncitizen travelers about voting at ports of entry.. Instead. the spokesperson emphasized that voting illegally is a deportable offense and said the administration would continue enforcing election laws by processing. detaining. and removing people who violate them.
Estelle’s attorney. Matthew Hoppock. said she has no prior criminal history and had not otherwise violated the conditions of her green card.. He said she registered to vote in 2023 as part of renewing her driver’s license and then voted in a November 2023 election that included races for city council and school boards. according to Douglas County records.. Estelle did not vote in later elections, including the 2024 presidential election.
In the middle of the legal fight, the case took an unusual turn.. A immigration judge granted Estelle’s request to cancel her removal proceedings after Hoppock said he spoke with DHS officials about her situation.. It remains unclear whether criminal charges are still possible.. CBP declined to comment on whether any charges are pending.
Even with the removal proceedings canceled, Hoppock argued that CBP handled the matter far too aggressively.. He said the government appeared to move quickly to immigration enforcement rather than pursuing traditional steps that usually require establishing intent in a court setting.. “It’s clear as day she wasn’t trying to break the law,” he said.
Estelle’s county clerk also described receiving federal outreach related to the case.. Jamie Shew. the clerk for Douglas County. Kansas. said he learned about the incident on March 23 after receiving an administrative subpoena from CBP seeking Estelle’s voter registration application and voting records.. Shew said the county did not have the application itself. but did receive data from the secretary of state’s office showing she registered in September 2023 and had no party affiliation.
Shew said the clerk’s office is supposed to process voter registrations only if the registrant attests to being a U.S.. citizen, as required by federal law.. Estelle later reached out to Shew shortly after he received the subpoena. according to Shew. and asked him to cancel her voter registration.. He said he canceled it on March 31.
The dispute also lands in the middle of a larger election-related enforcement agenda.. Trump has pressed for stronger federal action against election fraud, despite the lack of evidence supporting large-scale noncitizen voting.. He pushed unsuccessfully for a congressional measure known as the SAVE America Act. which would have required documentary proof of citizenship when registering to vote.
Later. in March 2025. he issued an executive order directing federal agencies to use resources to identify and prosecute alleged noncitizen voters.. The Justice Department began demanding that states provide their voter-roll information. and DHS revamped a tool intended to help states check citizenship status for registered voters in bulk.
The tool’s accuracy has been questioned.. Prior reporting has described the method as error-prone. and still. DHS said that Homeland Security Investigations would review more than 24. 000 voters flagged by SAVE as potential noncitizens.. A former CBP official. speaking anonymously because of current job restrictions. suggested that immigration and border screening systems may flag potential noncitizen voters in records used to check international travelers. such as passports.. If that assumption is accurate, customs officers could see indicators that lead to deeper questioning about voting histories.
Hoppock said Estelle’s detention occurred during a layover while she was returning to the U.S.. from France to check on her ailing father.. He said the customs officer asked whether she had registered to vote or voted before. and she answered yes. explaining she had voted once.. He said the officer then asked about the Nov.. 7, 2023, local election.
After questioning. Hoppock said Estelle was placed in a cell with a thin mattress covered by a blanket donated by an airline.. He said she heard officers discussing potential transfer to Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities and feared she might be moved after that.. Instead, she was released after more than 30 hours in custody.
For voting rights advocates, the episode raises alarms about deterrence and public messaging.. Wendy Weiser. vice president for democracy at the Brennan Center for Justice. said the organization’s concern is not only about rare cases but about how they can be publicized in ways that frighten voters.. In past instances. experts say suspected noncitizen voting is often identified by local or state election officials who refer the issue to law enforcement.. Even then. several lawyers note many cases do not proceed because the registrant may have been entered by mistake or may have voted without understanding the legality.. In prosecutions, prosecutors may also need to prove intentional wrongdoing depending on the charges.
With Estelle’s immigration case canceled after an emergency effort and a direct challenge to CBP’s handling. the question now is how aggressively federal agencies will pursue voting-related suspicions in border settings.. The government says it will enforce election laws.. Her attorney says the approach risks sweeping in people who did not knowingly violate the law—and it could create a pathway that bypasses the usual criminal process.
noncitizen voting CBP detention election law enforcement removal proceedings voter registration errors Kansas elections immigration enforcement
so she admitted it tho
this is so sad honestly, she lived here for years and one mistake and suddenly shes treated like a criminal. sleeping on concrete at 57 years old that is just wrong no matter what side you are on.
wait i thought green card holders were allowed to vote in some local elections i swear i read that somewhere. my neighbor is from mexico and she votes every year and nobody says anything so i dont understand why this lady is getting deported for doing the same thing. this whole story feels like they are just targeting people from certain countries and calling it a law. like who even told her she could vote in the first place, the city probably handed her a voter card and now she gets locked up for it, that makes zero sense to me
france has strict border rules too so i dont really feel bad. also why does she not want to use her last name if she didnt do anything wrong, just saying that part is a little suspicious to me. my uncle went through customs last year and they questioned him for like two hours just for having extra cash so this stuff happens to everyone not just her.