ICE Moves to Deport Former Mayor Who Admitted Voting Illegally for Trump

A former Kansas mayor who said he voted for Donald Trump despite not being a U.S. citizen is now in ICE custody, turning a small-town illegal voting case into a national immigration story with a sharp political twist.

Joe Ceballos, the former mayor of Coldwater, Kansas, was detained Wednesday, May 13, after reporting to a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Wichita. Ceballos, 55, was born in Mexico, brought to the United States by his family when he was 4 and is a legal permanent resident, but not a U.S. citizen.

His detention came less than a month after he pleaded guilty in April to three misdemeanor counts of disorderly election conduct for voting as a noncitizen. Kansas outlets reported that Ceballos has said he believed his green card allowed him to vote and described the mistake as honest, not intentional.

The case gained wider attention because Ceballos was a Republican official in a conservative Kansas town and had previously said he was "pretty sure" he voted for Trump and Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach because he generally voted Republican.

Ceballos resigned as mayor in December 2025 after state charges were filed. He had served on the city council and was elected mayor twice in Coldwater, a town of about 700 people. He won another term in November before stepping down amid the criminal case, AP reported.

The legal fallout did not end with the state plea deal. Ceballos received a $2,000 fine, probation and a suspended six-month jail sentence, but immigration authorities later ordered him to report to ICE. His attorney, Jess Hoeme, said federal officials had begun removal proceedings and that Ceballos now fears deportation.

Outside the Wichita ICE office, supporters gathered with signs and shouted "Let Joe go!" as Ceballos entered the building, AP reported. Before going inside, Ceballos told reporters he was nervous and did not know what would happen next. "Thinking what could happen, it's just kind of crazy," he said.

Hoeme has argued that Ceballos should not be treated as a fraudster, saying the final conviction was not for voter fraud but for disorderly election conduct. "He has not been convicted of any kind of voter fraud. It should not have impacted his immigration status," Hoeme told AP.

Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, a Republican who has long pushed stricter voting rules, initially announced the case in November. According to the Kansas News Service, Kobach's office later reduced the charges from felonies to misdemeanors because of a lack of intent.

The case lands in the middle of President Trump's renewed focus on noncitizen voting, an issue he and other Republicans have repeatedly raised even though documented cases remain rare. AP noted that the administration has pushed the SAVE Act, which would require documentary proof of U.S. citizenship to register and vote, and has expanded use of a Homeland Security program that checks citizenship records.