The directive from the deputy attorney general’s office in Washington instructs chief prosecutors to prioritize two specific charges: the prohibition on voting by aliens under 18 U.S.C. §611 and false statements made during voter registration. The statute, enacted nearly three decades ago, carries a maximum one-year misdemeanor sentence and has produced only a handful of criminal cases since its passage.
Prosecutor Training Resumes After Public Integrity Section Dismantled
The department hosted a webinar for line prosecutors and federal agents on Sept. 2, 2026, described by several people familiar with the matter as the first apparent instruction on arcane election crimes statutes since 2024. The training had been halted earlier this year after the public integrity section that previously led the effort was almost entirely disbanded.
A description of the webinar agenda reviewed by reporters described a focus on voting, or attempts to vote, by individuals who cannot legally do so. Former department officials noted that in prior administrations, other threats such as voter suppression, intimidation, and campaign finance violations were more pressing training topics than noncitizen voting.
DOJ spokesperson Kiersten Pels said in a statement that the department “routinely” offers training to its prosecutors and agents on enforcing federal election laws. “This is a longstanding function of the Department’s election integrity efforts, consistent with its mission to protect the right to vote and to prosecute individuals who violate federal election laws, including those who are not legally eligible to vote,” Pels said.
Evidentiary Hurdles Under §611
The heightened emphasis from department headquarters aligns with President Donald Trump’s claims that immigrants voting illegally cost him the 2020 election and that the risk of noncitizen voting remains a pervasive problem. It also corresponds with reports that the Department of Homeland Security has launched a nationwide hunt for noncitizen voter fraud, with probes intended to generate referrals for DOJ prosecutors.
However, senior officials at Justice Department headquarters and U.S. attorney offices have privately questioned how their teams can establish criminal intent when thousands of lawfully residing foreign nationals have been accidentally registered by their states, according to people familiar with the internal discussions who spoke anonymously about non-public investigations.
The challenge is especially acute in New Jersey, where the governor revealed in July that approximately 6,600 residents who identified themselves as noncitizens were inadvertently registered to vote between 2023 and 2024 while filling out driver’s license applications. Former department officials attribute the scarcity of §611 cases to the difficulty of proving willfulness when noncitizens were often confused rather than deceptive, and to the relatively small number of immigrants who historically end up on voter rolls.
The second Trump administration has been attempting to reverse that narrative, following the president’s March 2025 executive order that called on the attorney general to prioritize enforcement of the noncitizen voting ban and related statutes. Trump DOJ appointees are now hoping career prosecutors can bring charges that are largely untested before juries and appellate courts.
Recent Charges and Legal Defenses
Federal prosecutors in New Jersey, South Florida, and elsewhere have increased their use of §611 in recent months, according to DOJ statements and court filings. Last week the department announced charges against five individuals in three states for either voting as an alien or giving false statements of citizenship in order to vote.
Attorney General Todd Blanche called voting “a cherished right for eligible American citizens, and only eligible American citizens” when announcing the charges.
Defense lawyers representing green card holders targeted in immigrant voting cases have countered that their clients lacked malicious intent because they were sent registration cards in the mail or that the law forbidding them from voting is unconstitutional. In some of the recent noncitizen voter fraud cases, prosecutors have also charged foreign nationals with falsifying their applications for citizenship or voter registration.
What Happens Next
The success of the department’s pre-midterm push will hinge on whether career prosecutors can secure convictions under a statute that remains largely untested before juries and appellate courts. With DHS referrals flowing in and field offices under pressure to deliver cases before November, the coming weeks will reveal whether §611 can sustain broader enforcement or whether evidentiary barriers and inadvertent registration errors will continue to limit its reach.
Watch for additional charging announcements from U.S. attorney offices in swing districts, defense challenges to the constitutionality of the noncitizen voting ban, and any appellate rulings that could shape how courts interpret the willfulness standard for noncitizen voting prosecutions.
— Sofia Alvarez, government desk, AXO News