The federal government told the California Secretary of State in July that 190,000 people were likely ineligible to vote.
Posted by The John Phillips Show, Checked
- Sources
- 3 support2 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 80%
The John Phillips ShowOct 17, 2026
Multiple sources, including a California Secretary of State statement, the LA Times, and Courthouse News, confirm that the federal Homeland Security Department told California's Secretary of State in July that about 190,000 noncitizen voters were on the rolls.
What was said
… Yeah, it seems easy to do, especially with all the money that we spend in taxes on running these offices. Certainly, if the federal government believes that they are illegally casting ballots, that would be something you would want to get to the bottom of. They told us in July that, uh, the Secretary of State the federal government told the Secretary of State in July that there were 190,000 people that they believed, uh, were likely to be ineligible. Uhm, and then a couple days ago they sent us a letter saying, "Oh, it's 20,000." So what happened to the other 170,000? No explanation. And what is the basis for thinking this 20,000 are ineligible? …
The John Phillips Show · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Supports. The California Secretary of State's office states that in July, President Trump and DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin made claims that California had 190,000 non-citizens on its voter rolls, and that the state requested methodology and data that was never provided.[2]
Supports. The LA Times reports that in July, DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin asserted in a letter to Secretary of State Shirley Weber that California may have more than 190,000 noncitizen voters on its rolls.[3]
Supports. Courthouse News reports that in July, Homeland Security claimed as many as 190,000 noncitizens were registered to vote in California, and that the figure was later lowered to about 20,000.[4]
Context. ABC7 reports that federal officials flagged as many as 190,000 potentially ineligible voters on California's rolls earlier in the summer, and that the estimate has since narrowed to about 20,000 with questions remaining about how it was derived.[5]
Context. Snopes rates the July DHS claim of more than 250,000 noncitizens registered across four states, including California, as false with zero evidence supporting it; this goes to the accuracy of the figure rather than whether the communication was sent.[1]
Sources
5 sources: 1 fact-checker, 1 primary, 3 not rated
- 1DHS claimed 250K noncitizens are registered to vote across 4 states. Here's the truthsnopes.com · fact-checker · cited for: context
- 2California Secretary of State Shirley N. Weber, Ph.D., Issues ...sos.ca.gov · primary source · cited for: supports
- 3Feds arrest alleged noncitizen voters in California amid ...latimes.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 4Trump administration asks judge to sequester California votes by 'noncitizens'courthousenews.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 5DOJ alleges noncitizen voting in California. Here's what evidence ...abc7news.com · not rated · 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 previously claimed there were 190,000 ineligible voters in California before reducing the figure to 20,000.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 federal government filed a lawsuit alleging that 20,000 people in California have ballots who should not have them.True
- Preliminary reviews of voter records by the Department of Homeland Security show 190,000 non-citizens registered to vote in California.False