A federal judge has ordered the U. S.
Department of Homeland Security to suspend certain field investigations into suspected noncitizen voting across nine states.
U. S.
District Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin issued the ruling Wednesday, finding that unreliable government data could expose eligible American voters to intimidating investigations ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
The order covers California, Connecticut, Georgia, Missouri, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, Washington and Wisconsin.
It restricts immigration authorities from conducting election-related field operations and interviews when officials know, suspect or reasonably should suspect that the people targeted are U.
S. citizens.
The ruling is scheduled to take effect at 5 p. m.
Friday, giving the Trump administration an opportunity to appeal.
It will remain in effect until polls close on Election Day, according to CBS News, which described the decision as a response to an expanding federal investigation into possible noncitizen voting.
Judge Cites Unreliable Data and Risk of Intimidation
Martinez-Olguin found that the government's process for identifying potential targets carried a high risk of error because it relied on information from government agencies and commercially available data.
CNN reported that the judge warned the resulting lists could include American citizens legally entitled to vote.
The judge identified the central issue as the use of incomplete information to generate lists for interviews by Homeland Security Investigations in the months before an election.
Martinez-Olguin wrote that the public interest in elections free from interference or intimidation outweighed the government's stated interest in preventing unlawful voting by noncitizens.
The judge clarified that the decision does not prohibit federal authorities from investigating unlawful voting in federal elections.
Instead, it limits investigations that risk targeting eligible citizens and intimidating people who help others register or participate in elections.
Beau Tremitiere, an attorney for Protect Democracy, which represents groups involved in the lawsuit, said the decision would prevent investigators from continuing certain operations involving known naturalized citizens.
"This order is a serious protection: the current policy targets known naturalized citizens," Tremitiere told CNN.
Protect Democracy has argued that federal investigators should not treat people as legitimate targets when available information indicates they may be citizens.
The organization also criticized the government's failure to establish how frequently its identification process produced incorrect results.
Tremitiere told CBS News that the agency had relied on unreliable information when compiling its lists and sent agents to residential addresses shortly before an election.
"It was clear from the start that 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," Tremitiere said in a statement to CBS News.
The lawsuit was brought by voting rights and advocacy organizations, including the California Nurses Association and National Nurses United.
They argued that the investigations could discourage American citizens from voting or assisting others with voting because they feared being wrongly identified as potential offenders.
The judge found that the policy likely violated a provision of the Voting Rights Act prohibiting intimidation, threats or coercion against people who assist voters or engage in voter mobilization efforts.
"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," Martinez-Olguin wrote.
The judge continued that the plaintiffs were seeking to stop investigations of citizens that could intimidate or threaten members of the California Nurses Association and National Nurses United as they encouraged or helped others vote.
The ruling comes as President Donald Trump has prioritized efforts to investigate alleged voter fraud during his second term.
However, CBS News reported that evidence supporting claims of widespread noncitizen voting has been limited.
According to the Justice Department, 156 people had been charged with voting-fraud-related offenses since the beginning of the Trump administration.
Earlier that week, the department also reported arrests in California involving several dozen green card holders accused of illegally registering to vote in U.
S. federal elections.
Homeland Security Investigations has published photographs and videos showing agents approaching homes in multiple states as part of the investigation.
DHS had not provided a response to requests for comment from CNN and CBS News at the time of their reports.
