U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested Anthony Tyrone Higgs, a Bahamian lawful permanent resident, in Decatur, Georgia, on September 3, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Higgs remains in ICE custody, and DHS has placed him in removal proceedings to revoke his lawful permanent resident status because of his criminal convictions.
ICE Homeland Security Investigations Atlanta determined through an August 2026 investigation that Higgs had illegally voted in the 2020 election, DHS said in a statement released September 11. The department did not identify a voting-related charge or conviction against Higgs in the information it released.
DHS listed Higgs’ criminal history as including convictions for two counts of possession of a weapon during a violent crime, two counts of grand larceny, armed robbery with a deadly weapon, criminal domestic violence, assault on a police officer, and resisting arrest. Higgs was admitted to the United States as a Lawful Permanent Resident in October 1976.
DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said Higgs would be removed from the United States, citing his convictions and the department’s finding that he voted illegally. DHS described the case as part of the Trump administration’s broader focus on voting by non-citizens.
Other cases cited by DHS
The department cited several recent enforcement actions. Carlos Felipe Jaramillo-Grajales was sentenced to three years in prison in August after pleading guilty to identity theft used to vote illegally for more than 20 years. DHS also reported July arrests involving Marian Charitun, accused of voting illegally in New Jersey’s 2022 election, and Denise Nataly Migliore, accused of voting illegally in Louisiana’s 2022 and 2024 elections. Other examples included federal charges announced in May against four non-citizens in New Jersey, Jose Ceballos’ April guilty pleas to three counts of disorderly election conduct in Kansas, and the March arrest of Mahady Sacko, whom DHS said had voted illegally since 2008.
DHS also identified three recent policy steps related to election enforcement: letters Mullin sent to state election officials in July warning that tens of thousands of non-citizens were registered to vote; new election-integrity requirements announced by the Federal Emergency Management Agency for grant recipients; and a June directive ordering ICE to pursue stricter penalties, including deportation, for non-citizens who vote illegally.