Judge curbs Trump administration's noncitizen voting probes

A federal judge in California imposed restrictions on the Department of Homeland Security's investigations into potential noncitizen voting in nine U.S. states, citing fears that the agency's methods could discourage eligible voters. The decision comes as midterm elections approach, less than two weeks away. With this ruling, the Trump administration's efforts to probe suspected noncitizen voting are thwarted.

The judge blocked the administration from carrying out election-related field operations and interviews under the Unlawful Voter Initiative, involving or likely to involve U.S. citizens. The ruling also prevents the administration from conducting operations in the aforementioned states based on records generated by its voter-matching policy.

The judge stated that the government provided substantial evidence that its intimidating conduct directly interfered with the members' right to encourage voters to participate in the 2026 midterm elections. The Department of Homeland Security had compiled a target list of individuals from various sources, such as state voter rolls and commercial data.

However, the judge had doubts about the accuracy of the administration's data, warning of a high likelihood of error in review due to the lack of a federal database containing citizenship status of U.S. residents. The judge ordered the DHS to cease its operations in California, Connecticut, Georgia, Missouri, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, Washington, and Wisconsin.

The administration maintains its commitment to identifying, prosecuting, and removing aliens who vote and dilute the votes of U.S. citizens, stating that it has no plans to question or investigate people believed to be U.S. citizens. The administration argued in court that it reasonably decided to use the best data available to perform its law enforcement role, despite potential imperfections in the information.

They also claimed that allegations of voter intimidation were too vague. The administration refuted the claims by filing a lawsuit against California and election officials, requesting a court to delay the counting of approximately 20,000 voters deemed ineligible. However, past administration-created lists of potential noncitizens on voter rolls have been found inaccurate, such as in Nevada.

Legal challenges to the administration's election-related initiatives are expected to continue ahead of the November 3 midterm elections.