DETROIT — U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers detained a 57-year-old Kansas permanent resident for more than 30 hours at Detroit Metropolitan Airport in mid-March after she acknowledged under questioning that she had voted in a local election despite not being a U.S. citizen. The woman, identified as Estelle, was traveling home to Lawrence on a layover after visiting her ailing father in France.

A CBP spokesperson confirmed that officers detained a woman matching Estelle's description at the airport and placed her in removal proceedings. Voting illegally is a deportable offense under federal law.

According to a transcript of the interview, CBP had flagged Estelle for special scrutiny and officers were aware of her voting history. An officer asked whether she had registered to vote or cast a ballot, and she said she had voted once, confirming that she participated in the November 7, 2023 local election, which included city council and school board races. Estelle told the officer she believed she was eligible to vote in local elections because a state motor vehicles department employee had told her so when she renewed her driver's license in 2023, at which time she also registered to vote. Douglas County records show she did not vote in any subsequent election, including the 2024 presidential race.

After questioning, officers placed Estelle in a cell with a thin mattress on a concrete slab, gave her a blanket donated by an airline, and threatened her with deportation. She was released after more than 30 hours in custody.

"The Trump Administration will continue to enforce our nation's laws. Those who violate these laws will be processed, detained, and removed as required," the CBP spokesperson said.

Estelle's attorney, Matthew Hoppock, said his client had no prior criminal history and had not violated the terms of her green card. "It's clear as day she wasn't trying to break the law," Hoppock said. An immigration judge later granted a request to cancel her removal proceedings after Hoppock spoke with Department of Homeland Security officials.

Kansas and federal law require U.S. citizenship to register to vote. While a small number of U.S. cities allow noncitizens to vote in local elections, Lawrence is not among them. Historically, CBP has played no part in election-fraud investigations, and such cases are typically identified by local and state election officials who refer them to law enforcement. Such cases often do not move forward because the voters were registered by mistake or voted without knowing it was illegal.

"My concern is about the publicizing of these kinds of incidents as a tool to frighten people," said Wendy Weiser, vice president for democracy at the Brennan Center for Justice. CBP declined to comment on whether any criminal charges are pending against Estelle.

In March 2025, President Trump issued an executive order directing federal agencies to use their resources to help find and prosecute noncitizen voters. The Justice Department demanded that states hand over voter-roll information, and DHS revamped a tool to allow states to check registered voters' citizenship status in bulk. DHS said Homeland Security Investigations will look into more than 24,000 voters flagged by the SAVE system as potential noncitizens.