The White House and Homeland Security are turning up the pressure after another illegal voting case landed in the spotlight, this time involving Anthony Tyrone Higgs, a Bahamian national with a long criminal record and a green card that is now in jeopardy. Officials say the case fits a bigger pattern, with federal agencies pushing harder on election integrity, immigration enforcement, and the idea that noncitizens who break the law should face removal.
Higgs, who entered the United States in 1976, was arrested in Decatur, Georgia, after investigators said they uncovered evidence that he voted in the 2020 election. That finding set off deportation proceedings and added another ugly chapter to a record already marked by violent offenses. The message from officials was blunt, and they made clear they see this as more than an isolated bust.
White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis said Higgs “was a guest in our country who forfeited his right to be in the U.S. when he committed these violent crimes and voted in the 2020 election.” The line was sharp, but it matched the administration’s broader posture. Federal officials have been treating illegal voting cases as a direct threat to the trust that holds elections together.
Homeland Security Investigations confirmed that Higgs illegally voted in 2020, and agents with its Atlanta office took him into custody on Sept. 3. He is now held by ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations unit, which handles migrant removal cases. In plain terms, the government is moving to strip away his immigration status and send him out of the country.
Higgs had been admitted as a lawful permanent resident, but that protection is now on the line because of his record. DHS says the file includes armed robbery, domestic violence, assault on a police officer, resisting arrest, grand larceny, and weapons charges tied to violent crime. Officials say the combination of violent behavior and an illegal ballot makes the case especially serious.
DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin put it in blunt language, saying, “This criminal alien from the Bahamas has a rap sheet for multiple violent crimes, including armed robbery, domestic violence, and assault on a police officer,” and then adding, “On top of all of that, he illegally voted in the 2020 election.” That kind of language is not subtle, and it is meant to send a message. The administration wants repeat offenders and illegal voters to know they are not getting a pass.
Mullin also argued that even one illegal ballot can matter when elections are decided by razor-thin margins. “Any non-citizens who vote illegally in our elections will be arrested and removed. American elections are only for Americans.” That’s the core of the argument driving the crackdown, and it is one that has gained force as more cases have surfaced.
Officials pointed to other recent examples to show the scope of the issue. In Florida, a Colombian national was sentenced after an ICE investigation tied him to identity theft and years of illegal voting. In New Jersey and Louisiana, foreign nationals were also accused of voting when they were not allowed to do so, reinforcing the administration’s claim that the problem is not random noise but a real enforcement headache.
Another case in Philadelphia involved Mahady Sacko, a Mauritanian national who was charged after an ICE and FBI operation, with authorities saying he voted illegally multiple times going back to 2008. DHS said he had already been ordered removed years earlier but stayed in the country anyway. That detail matters because it shows how long some of these cases can simmer before law enforcement finally catches up.
The wider push has turned election fraud, immigration enforcement, and public confidence into one loud political fight. Supporters of the crackdown say the rules are simple and should be enforced without apology, especially when a person has already shown a pattern of serious criminal conduct. For them, the Higgs case is not just about one arrest, but about whether the system has the backbone to protect the ballot box and the border at the same time.
