Key facts
- All US immigration officers from the Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate (FDNS) have been reassigned.
- The reassignment is to focus on screening South African refugees and alleged "unlawful" voters.
- This shift prevents the training of asylum officers in the near future.
- The administration prioritizes South African refugees, citing discrimination claims rejected by South Africa.
- Efforts are underway to identify noncitizens who have registered or voted in US elections.
- Confirmed instances of noncitizen voting are rare.
Donald Trump's administration has reassigned all immigration officers from a key anti-fraud unit, the Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate (FDNS), to focus on two high-priority initiatives: screening South African refugees and identifying alleged "unlawful" voters. This diversion of personnel means USCIS can no longer assign officers to train asylum officers in the near future, potentially disrupting the processing of asylum claims.
The administration's prioritization of South African refugees, particularly Afrikaners, is framed as a response to alleged racial discrimination and "white genocide," claims that the South African government has refuted as unfounded and politically motivated. Recent data shows a significant majority of admitted refugees are from South Africa.
Simultaneously, the administration is intensifying efforts to identify noncitizens who have registered or voted in US elections. USCIS has already moved to bar naturalization for green card holders who have voted or registered to vote and to pursue deportation proceedings. An executive order in March 2025 granted state election officials access to USCIS's Save database to aid these investigations. However, confirmed instances of noncitizen voting have been found to be rare, with a review of the 2024 general election identifying approximately 35 such cases nationwide out of 154 million votes cast.