A federal judge in California has ordered the Trump administration to stop Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents from going door to door in nine states to look for noncitizen voters when the people involved are likely U.S. citizens. The order lasts until the polls close on Election Day, Nov. 3 12.
U.S. District Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin issued the order Wednesday night, Oct. 21. It covers California, Connecticut, Georgia, Missouri, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, Washington and Wisconsin 14. She put it on hold until 5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 23, so the government could appeal 15. When the ruling came out, officials had not said whether they would appeal 7.
The judge found that the program likely violates the Voting Rights Act, the federal law that makes it illegal to "intimidate, threaten, or coerce" people who vote or who help others vote 2. She described an "objectively reasonable fear of law enforcement entanglements" that intimidates citizens 34.
What the agents were doing
An internal Homeland Security Investigations memo dated Aug. 31 described a "surge initiative" starting Sept. 1 that included field interviews. It named California, Georgia, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Washington and Wisconsin as September targets 4. Agents knocked on doors and asked people about their immigration status and whether they had voted recently 2. Some local DHS offices posted photos of agents visiting suspects' homes 3.
The target lists drew on tens of millions of voter records. They included state voter rolls, commercial voter files and 48.2 million voters the judge said were of "questionable provenance," and the agency used artificial intelligence (AI) tools to add to the data 7. The judge called the lists "voluminous and unreliable" 1. During the surge, staff had to finish at least 40 reviews and could spend no more than 12 minutes clearing each person 15.
No federal database holds the citizenship status of everyone living in the U.S., the judge noted, so mistakes were likely 1. Investigators were also reportedly told to check whether naturalized citizens had voted before they became citizens 1.
The time limitations implemented during the Surge further exacerbate the risk of error.
Why the case turned on people who help others vote
Two nurses' unions, the California Nurses Association and National Nurses United, sued along with the Voto Latino Foundation, San Francisco and Santa Clara County 1. The judge based her decision on their argument that the probe harmed efforts to help people vote and get them to the polls. She did not find that the members' own right to vote had been violated, and she noted that most members vote by mail 1.
She wrote that the groups were not trying to stop all investigations. "Rather, Plaintiffs seek to stop DHS from continuing to investigate U.S. citizens, who have a legal right to vote," she wrote 2. The order applies to people officials "know, suspect, or should reasonably know or suspect are U.S. citizens," and it bars operations based only on DHS's voter-matching records 27.
It was clear from the start that DHS built its lists on bad data, never checked how often it was wrong,
The administration's answer
In a statement Thursday, DHS said it is "laser focused on identifying, prosecuting, and removing aliens who vote and dilute the votes of U.S. citizens" 2. The Justice Department says 156 people have been charged with voting-fraud offenses since President Trump took office 2. Federal prosecutors charged 28 people in California this week 5.
We have no plans to question or investigate people we believe to be U.S. citizens.
Separately, the Justice Department is suing California to stop officials from counting the ballots of about 20,000 voters it suspects are noncitizens 4. When Los Angeles County checked a sample of 200 of those records with county addresses, it found 112 were canceled or inactive registrations that had not been sent general-election ballots 5. Trent McCotter, the acting deputy U.S. attorney general, said: "I don't see how trying to remove noncitizens from elections would sow doubt" 5.
The AP reports that noncitizen voting is quite rare, including according to the administration's own investigations 1. Al Jazeera, reporting with the AP, says there is no evidence that noncitizen voters have changed the outcome of any election 3.
How the program came to light
Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., received a whistleblower's account dated Sept. 8. It said employees of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the agency that handles naturalization, were told to use people's personal information to search state voter-registration systems and to pose as voters on state election websites 6. Padilla and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., wrote to DHS demanding an immediate halt. Their letter said: "These activities are especially alarming just weeks before the 2026 midterm elections" 6.
I think what Trump wants to do is cast doubt on millions of lawful votes by spotlighting isolated allegations of wrongdoing.
That matters because of how wide the effort has been. The AP reports that the Justice Department has sued 30 states that refused to hand over detailed voter-roll data and has lost every case so far 1. The judge noted that the administration has been trying to get that data through "unreliable commercial versions of voter roll data" 1.
Benjamin Farley of the National Immigration Law Center described the ruling as a clear rebuke of efforts to scare voters 3. "No armed federal agent is going to stop us from casting our vote," he said 3. If the government doesn't win an appeal, the order takes effect after 5 p.m. Friday and lasts until the polls close Nov. 3 5.
The Record
- An internal Homeland Security Investigations memo describes a "surge initiative" starting Sept. 1 that includes field interviews in six named states 4.
- A whistleblower tells Sen. Alex Padilla that USCIS staff were told to search state voter systems while posing as voters 6.
- Padilla and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer demand that DHS immediately halt the voter initiative 6.
- Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin bars DHS election-related field operations aimed at likely citizens in nine states until polls close Nov. 3 12.
- The judge's hold on her order expires at 5 p.m., the window she gave the government to appeal 15.
Sources
- AP (via WWNY 7News), “Federal judge orders Trump administration to halt noncitizen voting investigation in 9 states” (2026-10-22). wwnytv.com/2026/10/23/federal-judge-orders-trump-administrat
- CBS News, “Judge rules against DHS's policy of knocking on doors to track down possible noncitizen voters” (2026-10-22). cbsnews.com/news/judge-dhs-noncitizen-voters-ruling/
- Al Jazeera, “US judge blocks federal operations seeking to identify non-citizen voters” (2026-10-22). aljazeera.com/news/2026/10/22/us-judge-blocks-federal-operat
- Stateline / CT Mirror, “Judge blocks DHS from conducting election-related sweeps in 9 states” (2026-10-22). ctmirror.org/2026/10/22/judge-blocks-dhs-from-conducting-ele
- inewsource, “How the DHS voter-fraud probe reached San Diego's registrar and got reined in by a judge” (2026-10-23). inewsource.org/2026/10/23/judge-halts-homeland-security-vote
- KEYT, “Whistleblower Alleges Trump Administration Used Illegal Tactics to Investigate Voters” (2026-09-14). keyt.com/news/california/2026/09/14/whistleblower-alleges-tr
- The Daily Record (Washington Post News Service), “Judge restricts Homeland Security investigations into noncitizen voting” (2026-10-22). thedailyrecord.com/2026/10/22/judge-limits-dhs-noncitizen-vo
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