Joe Ceballos, a 55-year-old legal permanent resident who twice served as mayor of Coldwater, Kansas, was taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Wednesday at a federal office in Wichita, his attorney Jess Hoeme said. The former mayor had pleaded guilty in April to state misdemeanor election conduct for voting in multiple elections despite being a noncitizen — an offense he said he committed unknowingly.
Ceballos was brought to the United States from Mexico by his family when he was 4 years old. Hoeme said that at age 18, Ceballos was encouraged to register to vote during a school field trip to the Comanche County courthouse — and never realized that his green-card status barred him from casting a ballot. Ceballos has previously told reporters he voted for Republicans. He was re-elected mayor in November but resigned after Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach charged him with voting without being qualified and election perjury.
In the plea deal, Kobach’s office reduced the charges to disorderly election conduct, which Hoeme described as a misdemeanor similar to disturbing the peace. “He has not been convicted of any kind of voter fraud. It should not have impacted his immigration status,” Hoeme said. “The Trump administration and ICE have doubled down on nonsense that he is a criminal.”
Outside the federal building where Ceballos was processed, a crowd of supporters held signs reading “We Support Mayor Joe” and “ICE Out,” and chanted “Let Joe go!” Ceballos, speaking to reporters before entering, said he was nervous about what would come next. “Thinking what could happen — it’s just kind of crazy,” he said. “Obviously nervous. I don’t know what’s going to happen. I don’t know where they’re going to take me and what I can and can’t do inside there.”
The Trump administration has made noncitizen voting a central enforcement priority. President Trump has repeatedly warned of the dangers of noncitizens casting ballots and has pushed Republicans in Congress to pass the SAVE Act, which would require documented proof of U.S. citizenship to register and vote. The Department of Homeland Security has expanded a program that checks citizenship status, and at least 25 states, most of them Republican-led, have used the system to review voter rolls. Research, including studies by Republican election officials, shows that noncitizen voting is extremely rare.
An email seeking comment from the Department of Homeland Security was not immediately returned. Hoeme said lawyers will ask an immigration judge to release Ceballos on bond while his case proceeds.