DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin defended President Donald Trump’s push for citizenship checks in federal elections, claiming DHS was preparing for the 2026 midterms by reviewing voter information and records.

Citizenship Verification

Mullin said the administration wanted to protect ‘the integrity of our election.’ He argued that citizenship verification should not be controversial, stating ‘What we want to make sure is that every vote actually counts, that we’re not having games like you might see in sanctuary cities.’

Mullin also said ‘Twenty-five is 25 too many’ in response to a question about the scope of noncitizen voting, citing a Heritage Foundation count of 25 prosecutions for voter fraud cases where citizenship was an issue.

ICE at Polls

Mullin faced questions during his confirmation hearing about whether ICE agents could be positioned near polling places. At the time, he questioned why critics were concerned about immigration enforcement at voting sites, saying ‘I don’t understand what the concern about enforcing immigration at polling places is anyways. Because, honestly, if you’re not a citizen, you shouldn’t be voting anyways.’

Trump signed a March 31 executive order directing DHS, with the Social Security Administration, to compile and transmit state citizenship lists to election officials before federal elections. The White House said the order was aimed at verifying eligibility and securing mail-in and absentee ballot procedures.

Original reporting: Fox News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.