ICE arrests former Kansas mayor who illegally voted for Trump in the 2024 election
The former official from Coldwater, a Republican supporter and legal resident who believed he was eligible to vote, now faces possible deportation proceedings
To many residents of Coldwater, Kansas, José “Joe” Ceballos was the hardworking neighbor who helped govern a small, conservative town of just 700 people. But on Wednesday, upon walking through the doors of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office, the former mayor was taken into custody after admitting that he voted in federal elections as a permanent resident and non-U.S. citizen.
Ceballos voluntarily surrendered to federal agents after receiving a summons to appear before immigration authorities. The former official now faces possible deportation proceedings. The arrest came just weeks after Ceballos reached a plea agreement with Kansas prosecutors on charges related to illegal election conduct, under which he avoided serious convictions and a prison sentence.
Ceballos, 55, was born in Mexico and arrived in the United States when he was four years old. He obtained a green card in 1990 and has since built his life in Coldwater, a small conservative community in southern Kansas. There, he worked for the local utility company, started a family, and eventually became involved in local politics, eventually serving as mayor.
According to his account and that of his attorneys, the problem began decades ago, when he registered to vote during a high school field trip. Ceballos stated that for years, he believed his status as a legal permanent resident allowed him to participate in U.S. elections.
The case came to public attention in November 2025, when the office of Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach filed several charges of election fraud against him just one day after he was reelected mayor. The charges related to votes cast in the 2022, 2023, and 2024 elections. Initially, the man faced serious charges for voting without being qualified and for election perjury, charges that could have resulted in years in prison.
However, last April, both parties reached a settlement. Ceballos pleaded guilty to three misdemeanor charges of “disorderly election conduct,” received probation, a suspended sentence, and a $2,000 fine. For much of Coldwater, that seemed to definitively close the case. However, days after the sentencing, immigration agents contacted the defense and ordered Ceballos to report to Wichita to be processed by ICE.
According to immigration attorney Sarah Balderas, federal authorities are using Ceballos’s own admission as grounds to initiate immigration proceedings. “Things like saying you’re a U.S. citizen or voting when you’re not supposed to, those types of things are considered removable offenses,” Balderas explained to local media outlet KMUW.
The case quickly became part of the debate over immigration and voter fraud in the United States. U.S. President Donald Trump and several Republican leaders have insisted since the 2024 presidential campaign that non-citizen voting poses a threat to the electoral system, even though studies and election officials have repeatedly pointed out that such cases are rare. Trump has also pushed for the SAVE Act, a proposal that would require documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote.
Ceballos publicly acknowledged that he voted for Trump and said he has no regrets. However, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security stated that the government would seek to deport him if he were convicted.
Meanwhile, in Coldwater, many residents feel the punishment has gone too far. Dozens of supporters gathered Wednesday at the ICE offices to protest his detention and demand his release.
The former mayor’s lawyers will seek a bail hearing before an immigration judge as they attempt to halt a possible deportation to Mexico, the country where he was born but left as a young child. Despite the legal uncertainty surrounding his future, Ceballos said before turning himself in that he still holds out hope of remaining in the U.S. “They can’t believe it’s happening to a guy like myself,” he told KMUW about his neighbors’ reaction. “A guy who is trying to live the American Dream, and it can be taken away from me.”
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