Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and Federal Bureau of Investigation agents announced the arrest of a “criminal, illegal alien” accused of voting in seven elections since 2008. Mahady Sacko was apprehended in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and charged.
Sacko, 50, originally entered the country in 1998 and first registered to vote in 2005, according to court documents. He cast a ballot in the 2024 presidential election, falsely claiming that “he was a U.S. citizen in order to vote and register to vote,” noted a release by the United States Attorney’s Office of Eastern Pennsylvania. ICE and the FBI worked together in his arrest.
“Sacko has been illegally voting in this country…” read a press release issued by the Department of Homeland Security. “He entered the U.S. near Miami, Florida, and an Immigration Judge ordered him removed. Sacko exhausted all appeals, and the Board of Immigration Appeals upheld his removal on November 14, 2002 — over two decades ago.”
The Philadelphia Inquirer reported Sacko was registered as a Democrat.
He is originally from Mauritania and has been living illegally in Philadelphia for more than two decades. An immigration judge originally ordered his deportation in 2000, but federal authorities never followed through with it because Sacko did not have a valid Mauritanian passport,” according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. Instead, he was allowed to remain in the U.S. and began voting in U.S. elections.
“According to the affidavit, he went on to vote in five federal general elections and two primary elections over the next two decades,” the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. “Prosecutors charged him only with casting a ballot in the 2024 election.”
Lauren Bis, the newly appointed deputy assistant secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, criticized Sacko’s felony and stressed that illegal immigrants are not permitted to vote in U.S. elections.
POLL: AMERICANS VIEW ICE MORE POSITIVELY THAN DEMOCRATS, NEWSOM, AND AOC
“This criminal illegal alien committed a felony by voting in federal elections dating back to 2008,” said Bis. “Illegal aliens should NOT be electing American leaders. Our elections belong to American citizens, not foreign citizens.”
Bis referenced Sacko’s illegal voting as a reason to support the SAVE America Act to ensure that only American citizens are voting in elections.
“Congress must pass the SAVE America Act immediately to secure our elections,” Bis said.
If convicted, Sacko could face up to five years in federal prison. He was released on bail after a court appearance last week, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.