Judge Restricts DHS Investigations into Noncitizen Voting
A federal judge has restricted the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from relying solely on flawed voter data in investigations of noncitizen voting in nine states. The order, set to take effect on Friday, comes ahead of the midterm elections and will remain in place until after the voting period.
The ruling was made by Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín, who cited the use of "admittedly flawed and incomplete data" to create a list of people for Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) to interview. The data, which identifies hundreds of thousands of possible illegal voters, is known to include US citizens inadvertently. The judge expressed concern that this could lead to citizens being wrongly included on investigation lists and being afraid to vote in the upcoming midterms.
The lawsuit was filed by voting-rights and advocacy groups, which argued that DHS's actions had already made US citizens afraid to vote due to the inclusion of their names on the department's broad, flawed lists. The order covers California, Connecticut, Georgia, Missouri, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, Washington, and Wisconsin.
The Trump administration has been pushing to bolster President Donald Trump's claims of widespread voter fraud by noncitizens, with DHS playing a central role in these efforts. However, the ruling is a significant pushback against the agency's approach, with the judge stating that the public's interest in safe elections far exceeds the agency's interest in combating unlawful voting by non-U.S. citizens.
