Judge Halts DHS Voter Fraud Probe Over Unreliable Target Lists

District Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin issued the injunction on Wednesday, effectively curbing federal interrogations in nine states, including California, New York, and Georgia. The court found that because the Trump administration lacked access to official state voter rolls, it resorted to compiling target lists through unreliable private data, resulting in widespread errors. In one instance in Nevada, DHS identified 185 individuals as potential noncitizens, only for state officials to confirm that every person on the list was a U.S. citizen.

The judge declared the initiative in violation of the Voting Rights Act, specifically citing the prohibition against intimidating or coercing groups that assist in voter mobilization. While the ruling does not bar federal investigations into unlawful voting, it strictly forbids interrogations of individuals whom officials should reasonably suspect are citizens. The litigation was brought by organizations including National Nurses United and the California Nurses Association, who argued the agency's tactics were designed to intimidate voters. Data from the Department of Justice supports the conclusion that noncitizen voting is statistically negligible, with only 156 individuals charged with such offenses nationwide, further undermining the administration’s claims of widespread fraud.