Federal Judge Limits DHS Field Operations Targeting Noncitizen Voters
A California federal judge barred the Department of Homeland Security from conducting field operations that target individuals suspected of voting illegally as noncitizens, citing concerns over flawed data and potential voter intimidation.
A U.S. District Court in California issued a 19-page order restricting the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) pre-election field activities aimed at identifying noncitizens who may have voted illegally in nine states. Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín, a Biden-appointed judge, said the government relied on "flawed" data and that the operations likely violated the Voting Rights Act, which prohibits voter intimidation.
The order prohibits DHS officers in California, Connecticut, Georgia, Missouri, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, Washington and Wisconsin from conducting operations that target people they "know, suspect, or should reasonably know or suspect are U.S. citizens," or that are based solely on USCIS data matching without further verification.
USCIS official Nicolas Bartell testified that his team manually reviews records before referring them to Homeland Security Investigations, but acknowledged a "low possibility" that citizens could be mistakenly identified as potential aliens. He argued that safeguards mitigate the risk and that the mission to protect election integrity outweighs any remaining concerns.
The ruling follows a lawsuit filed by a coalition that includes San Francisco and Santa Clara counties, the city of San Francisco, nursing unions and the Voto Latino Foundation, with Protect Democracy and the National Immigration Law Center representing the plaintiffs.
"Today, the courts affirmed a vital principle of our democracy: Voting is a fundamental right that citizens — whether born here or naturalized — should be able to exercise without armed government agents harassing them," said Beau Tremitiere, a lawyer with Protect Democracy.
The order takes effect on Friday and will remain in place through election night, though the federal government may appeal. The decision arrives amid broader legal disputes over efforts to segregate ballots believed to belong to likely noncitizens and recent charges against green-card holders accused of illegal voting in California.