Biden-Appointed, Mexican-Born Judge Reins In DHS As Agents Hunt For Noncitizen Voters

A federal judge appointed by former President Joe Biden ordered restrictions Wednesday on the Trump administration’s investigation of suspected noncitizen voting in nine states, citing concerns that agents could target American citizens and intimidate voter outreach groups ahead of the midterm elections.

U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín issued a preliminary injunction barring Department of Homeland Security election-related field interviews of people agents know, suspect, or reasonably should suspect are U.S. citizens, as well as field operations targeting such people that rely solely on records from the agency’s voter-matching program. The ruling applies to California, Connecticut, Georgia, Missouri, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, Washington, and Wisconsin. 

The judge paused her order until 5 p.m. Friday to give the administration time to appeal. The restrictions would run through Election Day on Nov. 3 and would not prohibit all DHS investigations into suspected noncitizen voting.

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The dispute centers on how DHS identifies potential noncitizen voters. According to the court, DHS compiled lists using state voter rolls, commercial voter databases, federal records, and other information, including lists whose origins or reliability the judge questioned. The agency also used artificial intelligence tools to help analyze the data.

Martínez-Olguín found that the methods could wrongly identify American citizens as noncitizens and interfere with voter engagement work. She said the plaintiffs were likely to succeed in arguing that the initiative violated a federal law prohibiting intimidation of people who assist or encourage others to vote.

The plaintiffs include the California Nurses Association, National Nurses United, the Voto Latino Foundation, Santa Clara County, and the city and county of San Francisco.

The government has defended its methods, saying agents use multiple sources to verify identities and eliminate false positives.

“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, adding that the agency did not plan to investigate voters it believed to be American citizens.

The administration’s “Unlawful Voter Initiative” has deployed hundreds of Homeland Security personnel to investigate suspected illegal voter registration and voting. Noncitizens are barred from voting in federal elections.

Martínez-Olguín, who was born in Mexico City in 1977 and immigrated to the United States as a young child, worked for the American Civil Liberties Union’s Immigrants’ Rights Project and the National Immigration Law Center before joining the bench. Biden nominated her in 2022, and the Senate confirmed her in February 2023.

The Alliance for Justice, a left-wing national association of public-interest and civil-rights organizations, enthusiastically supported her judicial nomination, citing her experience representing immigrants and other plaintiffs in civil-rights litigation. The organization said her “lived experience as a Latina American will bring an invaluable perspective to the federal judiciary.” 

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