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News

ICE detains former Coldwater mayor Joe Ceballos over noncitizen voting

The former Kansas mayor, who admitted to voting illegally as a noncitizen and pleaded guilty to misdemeanors in April, was taken into immigration custody in Wichita this week

2 min read·Published May 13, 2026
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Federal immigration authorities this week took Joe Ceballos, the former mayor of Coldwater, Kan., into custody at a Wichita federal building, according to The New York Times. Ceballos had previously pleaded guilty to illegally voting as a noncitizen.

Attorney Sarah L. Balderas, who confirmed the arrest, told reporters that before authorities escorted Ceballos to a detention area, he surrendered his phone to an officer. Online records checked Wednesday afternoon showed Ceballos held by Immigration and Customs Enforcement at a Kansas jail operating under a contract with the federal agency, according to The Times.

Deportation is the likely government objective, Balderas said, adding that she anticipated immigration court proceedings would be initiated against her client in the near term. Ceballos intends to contest any removal effort and will pursue release on bond during the proceedings, Balderas said. Factors such as his long residency in the United States, his standing in the community, and his personal character may support that effort, according to The Times. The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to questions about the case.

Ceballos, 55, was born in Mexico and holds a green card. State prosecutors filed charges against him for illegal voting as a noncitizen on the same day last November that Coldwater residents returned him to the mayor's office, according to The Times. He said he was unaware that his status as a legal permanent resident made him ineligible to vote or hold office.

A judge last month accepted Ceballos's guilty plea on three misdemeanor counts and sentenced him to probation and a $2,000 fine rather than incarceration, according to The Times. He resigned as mayor after the charges were filed. After the sentence was handed down, Ceballos told reporters he was optimistic the ordeal had come to an end and raised the possibility of pursuing citizenship in the future.

Well before the guilty plea, the Trump administration had signaled its intentions in the case: a DHS spokeswoman declared in November that a conviction would trigger removal proceedings against Ceballos, according to The Times.

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