The federal government matched U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement information with voter information to identify the 20,000 allegedly ineligible voters.
Posted by The John Phillips Show, Checked
- Sources
- 4 support1 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 80%
The John Phillips ShowOct 17, 2026
The federal government did match federal immigration data against California voter-roll information to flag about 20,000 likely noncitizen registrants, as the DOJ, CNN, Axios and The Hill all report.
This claim is about the present, so it is judged as of the day it was checked.
What was said
… So they and, well, noting that this isn't a widespread issue, and California has 23 million voters, they're mentioning 20,000, and in the lawsuit it does say how they came to this conclusion. They essentially took the U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement information and matched that with the information of these voters. I mean, given that it is in the context of California's voters, like, why not just do what Nevada did and just check and verify that they're wrong? …
The John Phillips Show · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Supports. The DOJ press release says Homeland Security Investigations, with federal partners, analyzed publicly available voter-registration records to identify potential indicators that aliens had registered or voted, producing a list of more than 20,000 likely noncitizens.[1]
Supports. CNN reports the 20,000 figure was derived from public voter registration information the government obtained, with DHS and USCIS comparing voter rolls against the agency's internal immigration records.[2]
Supports. Axios reports the lawsuit says USCIS and ICE's investigative arm compiled the list using agency data and records from the Social Security Administration and State Department.[4]
Supports. The Hill reports the DOJ sent California a list of over 20,000 names of people the federal government believes are likely noncitizens, to be compared with DHS-provided information.[3]
Context. A CHIRLA analysis filed around Nov. 1 found more than 40% of listed people do not appear in the state voter file, and DOJ defended the list's accuracy. This disputes the list's accuracy, not whether the matching took place.[5]
Sources
5 sources: 1 primary, 2 tier 2, 1 tier 1, 1 not rated
- 1Central District of California | United States Sues ...justice.gov · primary source · cited for: supports
- 2Trump admin files ‘long shot’ lawsuit after California wouldn ...cnn.com · tier 2 · cited for: supports
- 3DOJ sues California after pushing state to match voter list with USB ...thehill.com · tier 1 · cited for: supports
- 4Trump sues California over voters rolls three weeks ...axios.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 5Justice Department urges sanctions for database analysis ...pbs.org · tier 2 · cited for: context
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
Related claims
- The federal government sent a letter to California stating that 20,000 people on the voter rolls were likely ineligible to vote.True
- The federal government sent a thumb drive to the California Secretary of State alleging that 20,000 people registered to vote in California are not citizens.Mixed
- The Department of Homeland Security sent a letter stating that 20,000 people are illegally registered to vote.Mixed
- The federal government filed a lawsuit alleging that 20,000 people in California have ballots who should not have them.True
- The Department of Homeland Security identified approximately 278,000 non-citizens registered to vote in federal elections across eight states.False