Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is running for U.S. Senate, announced the arrests of seven noncitizens accused of illegally voting or making false claims of U.S. citizenship.
“Foreign nationals who illegally vote in Texas elections will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Paxton wrote on social media.
NEW: My office announced the arrest of seven foreign nationals who voted illegally in the 2024 election. pic.twitter.com/Mq5Fit995h
— Attorney General Ken Paxton (@KenPaxtonTX) September 15, 2026
Paxton’s office described the arrests as involving “foreign nationals who voted illegally in the 2024 election.” The federal charging papers present seven different cases, citing four ballots that were counted in the 2024 election and two provisional ballots that election officials rejected.
[NOTE: A provisional ballot is used when a voter’s eligibility cannot immediately be confirmed. Election officials investigate the voter’s eligibility before deciding whether to count it.]
Federal prosecutors indicted a total of six defendants and filed a criminal complaint against a seventh.
The seventh case concerns Joshua Nmelichukwu Akpom, who allegedly voted in 2018. Because the statute of limitations for charging him with illegal voting had expired, prosecutors instead charged him with making false statements during the naturalization process. The government alleges that Akpom denied having claimed U.S. citizenship, registered to vote, or voted.
The Justice Department called the arrests a “sweeping election integrity operation” and said investigators found that the alleged conduct was not the result of misunderstandings or paperwork errors.
Today in @NDTXnews, @USAttyRaybould announces charges against seven noncitizens who illegally voted in federal elections or falsely claimed U.S. citizenship
“Let me be unmistakably clear, illegal voting in our federal elections is a crime. Falsely claiming U.S. citizenship is… pic.twitter.com/TJ5NjPDeaq
— U.S. Department of Justice (@TheJusticeDept) September 15, 2026
The Department of Homeland Security also promoted the cases, crediting cooperation among federal investigators, Paxton’s office, and local election authorities.
The thing we keep getting told never happens happened again.
Non-citizens in Texas arrested for voting in our elections!
America’s elections are for Americans, and DHS and @HSI_HQ are hard at work making sure it stays that way. pic.twitter.com/Gwa4tnBplk
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) September 15, 2026
Six of the defendants are lawful permanent residents, and one had been ordered deported in July, according to The Associated Press. Their countries of citizenship include Mexico, India, Nigeria, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Paxton said: “Foreign influence has no place in American elections. Today, my office is announcing our efforts to arrest foreigners who attempted to cheat the system and violate our laws that uphold election integrity.”
[NOTE: Noncitizen voting is illegal under federal and Texas law. Research has consistently found it to be rare. Nearly 11.4 million Texans voted in the 2024 election.]
The charges were announced as the Trump administration continues to focus on noncitizen voting before the midterm elections. The administration has sued states for access to detailed voter information and unsuccessfully asked the Supreme Court to permit new restrictions on mail ballots.
[NOTE: Paxton, who with Trump’s endorsement defeated incumbent Republican senator John Cornyn in the primary, is running for Senate against Democratic state Rep. James Talarico.]