The Department of Homeland Security has targeted nine states in an effort to identify voter fraud, a move critics say amounts to voter intimidation.
Published October 22, 2026
A federal judge has ordered the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to halt operations aimed at finding noncitizen voters in nine states ahead of the midterm elections.
The ruling by U.S. District Judge Araceli Martinez-Holguin said the investigation likely violated provisions of the Voting Rights Act that prohibit voter intimidation. He also said DHS may have relied on flawed data in its investigation.
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That, she wrote, “leads to an objectively reasonable fear of interaction with law enforcement and makes citizens afraid to encourage or assist others in exercising their right to vote.”
The order applies to federal efforts targeting California, Connecticut, Georgia, Missouri, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, Washington, and Wisconsin.
The Department of Homeland Security has released information that says it is working to identify individuals who committed voter fraud, and some local offices have posted photos of officials knocking on suspects’ doors.
The operation comes as President Donald Trump’s administration seeks to uncover instances of voter fraud ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm voting.
Although instances of fraud have been recorded in every election cycle, such isolated cases remain extremely rare.
There is no evidence that non-citizen voters influenced the outcome of elections at any level within the country.
In a statement after Thursday’s ruling, DHS claimed the purpose of the investigation was to “eliminate voting aliens and weaken the vote of American citizens.”
“We have no plans to interrogate or investigate people who appear to be U.S. citizens.”
The California Nurses Association and National Nurses United, as well as the Boto Latino Foundation of San Francisco and Santa Clara Counties, said in a lawsuit challenging DHS efforts that some U.S. citizens feel they are being unfairly singled out and questioned as part of the investigation.
“It was clear from the beginning that DHS based its list on fraudulent data, never checked how often it was wrong, and recklessly sent agents to homes weeks before the election,” lawyers representing both groups said in a statement.
Benjamin Farley, supervisory counsel for democracy advocacy at the National Immigration Law Center, said the ruling sends a strong message about voter intimidation ahead of midterm elections.
“Yesterday’s decision is a clear rebuke to the administration’s efforts to scare voters away from voting this November, and a reminder that all Americans, regardless of the color of their skin, place of birth, or national origin of their family, have the right to participate in American elections without intimidation,” he said.
“Armed federal agents will not stop us from voting.”
