The Department of Homeland Security identified approximately 278,000 non-citizens registered to vote in federal elections across eight states.

Posted by VINCE, Aug 25, 2026Checked Nov 2, 2026

Polygraph verdictFalse

Sources: 5 contradict2 support2 context
Said: 1 time·
Confidence: 80%

VINCEAug 25, 2026

The sources contradict the claim's eight-state scope: the DHS and White House figures cover four states (California, New Jersey, Nevada, Pennsylvania), not eight. Fact-checkers and watchdogs also found the 278,000 figure unsubstantiated, with DHS providing no disclosed methodology.

This claim is about the present, so it is judged as of the day it was checked.

What we found

Contradicts. DHS's own release and the White House factsheet tie the figures to four states, with a DHS letter listing California, New Jersey, Nevada and Pennsylvania, not eight.[4][5]

Contradicts. FactCheck.org rated Trump's 278,000 claim as unsupported: DHS has not explained its methodology and experts warn the figure is likely highly inaccurate.[1]

Contradicts. Snopes reports that election officials in all four states denied the allegations, and that DHS provided no supporting evidence for its figures.[2]

Contradicts. A global security analysis found the underlying DHS documents never state a verifiable method and cite no noncitizen who actually voted, were removed, or were prosecuted.[6]

Supports. Trump and DHS publicly asserted that a review identified approximately 278,000 noncitizens registered to vote, so the attribution to DHS matches what DHS and the White House said, though not what the evidence showed.[3][4][5][7]

Context. A CREW lawsuit seeking DHS's methodology records reports that the agency has not produced records supporting the figures, and ProPublica found few resulting prosecutions.[7][8][9]