Civil rights groups sue DHS over voter investigations of naturalized citizens

Two civil rights organizations filed a federal lawsuit in California on Wednesday accusing the U.S. Department of Homeland Security of unlawfully investigating naturalized citizens over their voter eligibility, less than a week before Election Day, according to the Oklahoma Voice and other States Newsroom outlets that published the same report.

The suit was brought by OCA-Asian Pacific American Advocates and Common Cause, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union. It alleges that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, a DHS sub-agency, runs what the plaintiffs call an "Unlawful Voter Initiative" that singles out thousands of naturalized and derivative citizens for investigation and tracking, the Arizona Mirror reported.

The outlets reported that the claims draw on a whistleblower report released in September by Senate Democrats, which said DHS was investigating naturalized citizens without their knowledge. The plaintiffs want a judge to stop DHS from targeting naturalized citizens and from pressing election officials to reject ballots from people who appear on DHS lists of alleged noncitizen voters.

"Naturalized citizens are U.S. citizens, with exactly the same right to vote as anyone born here," said John C. Yang of Asian Americans Advancing Justice, according to the Nevada Current.

The lawsuit arrives amid other legal fights over the midterm elections. The Justice Department has sued California seeking to keep election officials from counting ballots from 20,000 suspected noncitizen voters and has asked Washington state not to count ballots from 400, the Ohio Capital Journal reported. California election officials and voting rights advocates have questioned whether that list is accurate. At a hearing Tuesday, the judge in the California case indicated he would likely appoint a special master to review the list but appeared disinclined to order ballots set aside, according to the outlets.

Separately, U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín last week issued a preliminary injunction halting DHS election-related field operations in nine states until polls close, after advocates alleged that armed agents were visiting homes to ask residents about their voting status. The affected states are California, Connecticut, Georgia, Missouri, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, Washington and Wisconsin. On Tuesday, DHS asked the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to pause that order and requested a ruling by Thursday. A Justice Department lawyer argued in a filing that the injunction interferes with ongoing law enforcement work tied to election integrity.

DHS did not respond to a request for comment, the outlets reported. In a Wednesday news release announcing voter fraud arrests, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said, "American elections are for Americans only." Dozens of noncitizens have been arrested nationwide in recent weeks, according to the reports. Noncitizen voting is a misdemeanor and can also lead to deportation.

About 10% of eligible voters this year are naturalized citizens, up from about 6.2% in 2000, according to a Pew Research Center analysis cited by the outlets. California has the highest share, at nearly 22%.

Compiled by True News from reporting by Oklahoma Voice, Arizona Mirror, Ohio Capital Journal and Nevada Current. Each outlet's original story is linked below.

Originally published by True News: https://truenews.bagleyenterprises.net/stories/585