Immigration authorities on Wednesday arrested a former mayor of a conservative Kansas town after he admitted last year that he voted in the election even though he was not a US citizen.
Joe Ceballos, who was born in Mexico and is a legal permanent resident of the United States, was arrested during a meeting at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Wichita, Kansas, according to his attorney, Jess Hoem. He said Ceballos now fears he could be deported.
The 55-year-old resigned from his position as mayor of Coldwater in December while facing government charges over voting as a non-citizen. Hoem said that while seeking citizenship in 2025, Ceballos admitted during an interview that he voted, without knowing that green card holders were not eligible.
Ceballos was accused of voting illegally but pleaded guilty in April to misdemeanors in a deal with the Kansas attorney general. His case has caught the attention of the Trump administration and inspired supporters in his community, some of whom carried signs reading “We support Mayor Joe” and “ICE Out” as Ceballos entered the federal building in Wichita.
“Let Joe go!” The crowd shouted.
“To think about what could happen, it’s just kind of crazy,” Ceballos told reporters. “I’m obviously nervous. I don’t know what’s going to happen. I don’t know where they’re taking me and what I can and can’t do inside there.”
An email seeking comment from the Department of Homeland Security was not immediately responded to.
Trump and other Republicans were like that Risk warning of non-citizens who have been voting in elections since the start of the 2024 presidential election. Research, even by Republican election officials, shows the problem rare.
This year, Trump has been pressuring Republicans in Congress to pass the bill Conservation lawwhich among other things requires documented proof of US citizenship to register and vote.
The administration also significantly updated a program within Homeland Security to verify citizenship. At least 25 states, most of them Republican-controlled, have used this system to verify their voter rolls.
Ceballos was brought to the United States from Mexico by his family when he was 4 years old. Hoem said lawyers will then try to convince an immigration judge to release him on bail.
Ceballos, 18, was encouraged to register to vote right away during a school field trip to the Comanche County Courthouse, he said. Ceballos previously said in interviews with journalists that he voted for Republicans.
He was twice elected mayor of Coldwater, population 700, and also served on the city council. Ceballos won a new term in November but resigned after state Attorney General Kris Kobach accused him of voting unqualified and perjury in the election.
But Kobach’s office reached an agreement with Ceballos. He pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct, which Hoem described as a misdemeanor similar to disturbing the peace.
“He was not convicted of any type of voter fraud. This should not have affected his immigration status,” Hoem said. “The Trump administration and ICE have doubled down on the nonsense that he is a criminal.”
Ceballos was a popular figure in Coldwater, where an advertisement in the Western Star newspaper encouraged people to support him.
“He had to live the American dream, come from absolutely nothing and build — I don’t know about wealth — but build a business and get a job and be a productive part of society,” said longtime friend Ryan Swayze. He told Wichita station KAKE-TV.