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A Mexican native green card holder who recently served as mayor of a small Kansas town pleaded guilty to voter fraud after illegally voting multiple times, according to federal authorities. He also falsely claimed U.S. citizenship on voter registration documents.
The case comes as debate continues over voter fraud and election integrity, with the Trump administration pushing measures aimed at cracking down on illegal immigration and tightening election safeguards.
Jose "Joe" Ceballos, who formerly served as mayor of Coldwater, Kansas, for two terms, pleaded guilty this week to three counts of disorderly election conduct following a prosecution by Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach’s office, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
Ceballos also has a prior conviction for battery in 1995. He was issued a green card in 1990 and applied for U.S. citizenship in February.
On that citizenship application, federal authorities allege he falsely claimed that he had never previously claimed to be a U.S. citizen.
Assistant DHS Secretary Lauren Bis credited the Trump-era SAVE program for helping bring Ceballos to justice.
The database is used to help states determine who is in the country legally versus illegally, but Democrats, including the Shapiro administration in Pennsylvania, have blamed alleged discrepancies in the system after illegal immigrant truckers were found to hold their state’s CDLs.
"The SAVE program is a critical tool for state and local governments to safeguard the integrity of elections across the country," Bis said. "President Trump has been unequivocal: Nothing is more fundamental than the integrity and security of our elections."
Bis said the Ceballos case is an exemplar for why Congress must pass the SAVE America Act, which she called "commonsense legislation that requires voters to present photo ID and implements other critical measures to protect federal elections from fraud."
"Our elections belong to American citizens, not foreign citizens," she said.
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Bis’ office shared with Fox News Digital a facsimile of a Kansas state voter registration form on which Ceballos falsely claimed to be a citizen, as well as his naturalization application on which he had attested that he had never made such a claim.
Since April 2025, more than 24,000 cases have been identified via the SAVE system as potential noncitizens who were on the voter rolls, according to DHS.
In November, Kobach announced the original charges against Ceballos, describing him as "recently reelected" in Coldwater.
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At the time, USCIS spokesman Matthew Tragesser called the situation "absolutely unacceptable and sad," but said it was no surprise "given the years of lax voting security in the United States."
"From day one, the Trump administration has made strengthening the SAVE program a top priority so states can verify that only U.S. citizens are on the voter rolls," he said.
"I’m grateful that President Trump implemented the SAVE program to help states and to prevent situations like this," added Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab.
Fox News Digital's Kiera McDonald contributed to this report.
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