Immigration authorities detain former Kansas mayor who fears deportation over voting controversy

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The former mayor of a conservative Kansas town was taken into custody by immigration authorities Wednesday, a possible step toward deportation, months after acknowledging he had voted in elections despite not being a U.S. citizen.

Joe Ceballos, 55, who is a legal permanent U.S. resident, was detained during a meeting at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Wichita, Kansas, his attorney, Jess Hoeme, said.

Supporters outside the ICE building held signs that said, “We Support Mayor Joe” and “ICE Out.” The crowd yelled, “Let Joe go!”

“I'm extraordinarily disappointed in my government,” Hoeme told The Associated Press.

Ceballos, the former mayor of Coldwater, Kansas, was brought to the U.S. from Mexico by family when he was 4. While seeking citizenship in 2025, he admitted during an interview that he had voted — apparently not knowing his status as a legal resident does not allow it, Hoeme said.

The government's response to that interview, as well as the actions of Kansas authorities, landed Ceballos in court and on a path to possible deportation.

“Thinking what could happen — it's just kind of crazy,” Ceballos told reporters before entering the ICE building. "Obviously nervous. I don't know what's going to happen. I don't know where they're going to take me and what I can and can't do inside there.”

An email seeking comment from ICE was not immediately returned. The Department of Homeland Security recently referred to him derisively as an “alien from Mexico."

Hoeme said lawyers would next try to get an immigration judge to release Ceballos on bond.

He said Ceballos, at age 18, was encouraged to register to vote on the spot during a school field trip to the Comanche County courthouse.

“Nobody ever told me that I couldn’t vote or register to vote,” Ceballos, who said he voted for President Donald Trump and other Republicans, recently told The New York Times. “And so, as a young man, yeah, I did it. I registered.”

Ceballos was twice elected mayor of Coldwater, population 700, and also served on the city council. He won a new term in November but resigned after state Attorney General Kris Kobach charged him with voting without being qualified and election perjury, apparently the result of information from the citizenship interview last October.

Kobach's office, however, reached a deal with Ceballos in April. He pleaded guilty to disorderly election conduct, a misdemeanor that is similar to disturbing the peace, Hoeme said. A judge even applauded the agreement.

“He has not been convicted of any kind of voter fraud. It should not have impacted his immigration status,” Hoeme said. “The Trump administration and ICE have doubled down on nonsense that he is a criminal.”

Ceballos is admired in Coldwater. Residents filled the courtroom during a hearing and an advertisement in The Western Star newspaper encouraged people to support him.

“He's kind of got to live the American dream, to come from absolutely nothing and build up — I don’t know about wealth — but to build up a business and have a job and be a productive part of society,” longtime friend Ryan Swayze told Wichita station KAKE-TV.