Judge Restricts DHS Voter Probe in Nine States

A federal judge on Wednesday ordered the Department of Homeland Security to scale back parts of its noncitizen voting investigation in nine states, finding the agency relied on flawed data and risked intimidating U.S. citizens before the midterm elections.

According to CNN and CBS News, the order covers California, Connecticut, Georgia, Missouri, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, Washington and Wisconsin. It bars elections-related field operations and interviews when officials know, suspect, or reasonably should suspect that the target could be a U.S. citizen.

The ruling was issued by U.S. District Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin. CBS News reported that she stayed the order until 5 p.m. Friday to give the Trump administration time to appeal.

According to CNN, the restrictions are set to remain in place until after the midterm elections. CBS News separately reported the order will last until polls close on Election Day.

"is widely known to inadvertently include U.S. citizens" and "leaves citizens afraid that their name will be wrongly included in the hundreds of thousands identified for investigation," Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín wrote in the order.

In the ruling, the judge said the dispute centered on DHS use of incomplete information to compile target lists for Homeland Security Investigations interviews in the months before an election.

"at issue here is the reliance on admittedly flawed and incomplete data to create a list of individuals for HSI to interview in the months leading up to an election," Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín wrote.

CBS News reported that the judge also found the policy likely violated a section of the Voting Rights Act that prohibits intimidation, threats or coercion against people assisting voters or participating in mobilization efforts.

"Plaintiffs do not claim, nor does the Court find, that it is unlawful for federal officials to undertake investigations into unlawful voting in federal elections," Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín wrote.

The judge drew a distinction between lawful election investigations and the treatment of citizens who are legally allowed to vote. She said the challenge focused on how the policy affected citizens and voting advocates.

"Rather, Plaintiffs seek to stop DHS from continuing to investigate U.S. citizens, who have a legal right to vote, in a way that intimidates and threatens the participation of CNA/NNU members from urging or aiding others to vote," Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín wrote.

The lawsuits were brought by voting rights and advocacy groups, including the California Nurses Association and National Nurses United, according to CBS News. Protect Democracy represented groups challenging the policy.

"This order is a serious protection: the current policy targets known naturalized citizens," Beau Tremitiere, an attorney for Protect Democracy, told CNN.

He said the judge's order should halt operations directed at people for whom there are signs of citizenship and should limit assumptions that others are valid targets.

"Those operations are prohibited. And this order should otherwise force DHS to stop presuming many others are viable targets when there are indicia of citizenship," Beau Tremitiere said.

In a separate statement to CBS News, Tremitiere said the government's lists were built recklessly and sent agents to homes shortly before an election without measuring how often the data was wrong.

"It was clear from the start that DHS built its lists on bad data, never checked how often it was wrong, and recklessly sent agents to people's homes weeks before an election," Beau Tremitiere, counsel at Protect Democracy, said in a statement to CBS News.

He said the ruling underscored that political power rests with voters rather than the government, regardless of the administration's position.

"Today's ruling should remind us that American citizens hold the ultimate power in our democracy, not the government–no matter what the administration says otherwise," Beau Tremitiere said.

CNN and CBS News said they reached out to DHS for comment. CBS News also reported that only 156 people had been charged with voting-fraud-related offenses since the start of the Trump administration, citing the Justice Department, while federal authorities earlier this week arrested several dozen green card holders in California over allegations they illegally registered to vote in federal elections.

"The public's interest in safe elections, free from interference or intimidation, far exceed Defendants' purported interest in combating unlawful voting by non-U.S. citizens," Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín wrote Wednesday.