Justice Department Defends Noncitizen Voting List Amid Legal Dispute

The Justice Department is standing by its list of more than 20,000 suspected noncitizens registered to vote in California, suggesting that an immigrant rights group and its attorneys may face contempt charges for publishing an analysis of the list. This analysis, conducted by the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), revealed that over 40% of the individuals identified do not appear in the state's voter file, and it also noted that some listed individuals are likely naturalized U.S. citizens.

U.S. District Court Chief Judge James Boasberg had previously allowed CHIRLA access to federal data but ordered that the names not be disclosed and that the data be used solely to establish legal standing in their challenge against the Trump administration's claims. The Justice Department contended that the immigrant rights group's analysis was irrelevant to the plaintiffs' standing and violated the court's order, urging Boasberg to consider referring the matter for a potential criminal contempt investigation.

Alberto Lammers, a spokesman for the University of California, Los Angeles' Voting Rights Project, which assisted in the analysis, stated that the plaintiffs' counsel complied fully with the court's orders. In a related case, the Justice Department is appealing a ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Trina L. Thompson that barred it from demanding the removal of potential noncitizens from voter rolls. Thompson has scheduled a hearing for Monday regarding the appeal.

California election officials have criticized the Justice Department's list as flawed, asserting that they lack the resources to verify and remove voters in the short time before the election. The administration maintains that the list was compiled from state voter registration data compared to federal citizenship records and has issued subpoenas to California election offices, warning of potential criminal charges for officials who allow noncitizens to vote.