Judge Blocks DHS From Knocking on Doors to Hunt for Noncitizen Voters in Nine States Before Election Day

A federal judge ruled late Wednesday that the Department of Homeland Security's practice of knocking on doors and asking people about their immigration status, and whether they have voted in recent elections, likely violates the Voting Rights Act. The ruling targets an operation that a CBS News investigation documented earlier the same day.

U.S. District Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin ordered federal immigration authorities to stop "elections-related field operations and field interviews" in nine states, including California and New York, if the operations are likely to involve people the government "know, suspect, or should reasonably know or suspect are U.S. citizens." The order stays in effect until polls close on Election Day. She delayed it until 5 p.m. Friday, which gives the government time to seek an appeal.

Homeland Security Investigations has posted photos and videos of agents approaching homes in multiple states. The Trump administration says the practice is part of a crackdown on voting by noncitizens. Critics say it can intimidate legal voters. The judge sided with groups that sued, including the California Nurses Association and National Nurses United, and found the policy likely runs afoul of a section of the Voting Rights Act that bars anyone from intimidating, threatening or coercing people who help others vote or take part in voter mobilization.

The judge was careful about what she was not deciding. "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," she wrote. "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."

She also pointed to the "high likelihood of error" in the way the government builds its list of potential targets, which draws on data from government agencies and commercially available data. Beau Tremitiere, counsel at Protect Democracy, one of the groups that sued, said 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."

Homeland Security said in a statement Thursday that it is "laser focused on identifying, prosecuting, and removing aliens who vote and dilute the votes of U.S. citizens." The department added that it has "no plans to question or investigate people we believe to be U.S. citizens."

President Trump has made cracking down on voter fraud a priority in his second term, though there is little evidence to back his claims of widespread voting by noncitizens. According to the Justice Department, just 156 people have been charged with voting-fraud-related offenses since the administration began. Earlier this week, the department reported that it had arrested several dozen green card holders in California on allegations they illegally registered to vote in federal elections. The appeal window closes Friday, so the next step is likely to come quickly.