Mexico-Born Biden Judge Restricts Trump’s Noncitizen Voting Investigation in Nine States
by David Lindfield
A Democrat-aligned federal judge appointed by former President Joe Biden imposed restrictions Wednesday on the Trump administration’s investigation of suspected noncitizen voting, placing new limits on election-related field operations in nine states ahead of the midterms.
Mexico-born U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín issued a preliminary injunction after finding that the Department of Homeland Security’s voter-matching methods could misidentify American citizens and intimidate organizations conducting voter outreach.
The administration says its operation targets foreign nationals who illegally register or vote, conduct that undermines the voting rights of American citizens.
“DHS is laser-focused on identifying, prosecuting and removing aliens who vote and dilute the votes of U.S. citizens,” a department spokesperson told The Washington Post.
The spokesperson added that DHS did not plan to investigate voters it believed were American citizens.
Restrictions Extend Through Election Day
Martínez-Olguín’s order bars DHS from conducting election-related field interviews of people agents know, suspect, or reasonably should suspect are U.S. citizens.
It also prohibits field operations targeting those individuals when the operations rely solely on records from the agency’s voter-matching program.
The injunction covers California, Connecticut, Georgia, Missouri, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, Washington, and Wisconsin.
The judge delayed the order until 5 p.m. Friday to allow the administration time to appeal.
Its restrictions would remain in place through Election Day on November 3.
The ruling does not prohibit all DHS investigations into suspected noncitizen voting, but it places court-imposed limits on how agents can pursue cases during the final stretch of the election.
Administration Defends Effort to Identify Illegal Voters
The administration’s Unlawful Voter Initiative has deployed hundreds of Homeland Security personnel to investigate suspected illegal registration and voting.
Noncitizens are prohibited from voting in federal elections.
DHS compiled potential matches using state voter rolls, commercial voter databases, federal records, and other information.