ELX-012 · Elections · Voter rolls
DHS "Unlawful Voter Initiative" checks on suspected noncitizen voters
Stage 4 of 5: Legal action · Lawsuits, subpoenas, charges · Last development 21 Oct 2026
DHS's "Unlawful Voter Initiative" has immigration staff check lists of people against state voter records and sends agents into nine states to investigate suspected noncitizen voting. An anonymous whistleblower says staff had to pose as voters to use state lookup tools and could wrongly flag citizens. Nurses' unions, a voting group and two California local governments sued, and on 21 October a federal judge barred election-related field operations and interviews with people agents know or should suspect are citizens until polls close on 3 November.
The whistleblower is anonymous, and the account was released by Democratic senators. The court order allows lawful voter-fraud investigations to continue.
- People
- Department of Homeland Security, USCIS, Markwayne Mullin
- Reviewed by
- Federal court (N.D. California), Senate Democrats
Timeline
Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin bars election-related field operations and interviews with people agents know or should suspect are citizens in California, Connecticut, Georgia, Missouri, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, Washington and Wisconsin until polls close on 3 November. The order is on hold until 5 p.m. on 23 October and allows lawful voter-fraud investigations to continue. [3]
The California Nurses Association, National Nurses United, the Voto Latino Foundation, San Francisco and Santa Clara County sue DHS under the Voting Rights Act, the Administrative Procedure Act and the Constitution (N.D. Cal. 3:26-cv-10680). [2]
Sens. Schumer and Padilla release the anonymous whistleblower's account, which says staff had to pose as individual voters to use some state lookup tools, likely breaking state laws, and that citizens could be wrongly flagged in federal records. [1]
USCIS staff are told to set aside other work and run DHS-provided lists of people through state voter-lookup tools, about 40 people a day, according to a whistleblower. [1]
Responses
- DHS (Sep 2026): Says the effort is "laser focused on prosecuting and removing aliens who vote and preventing the dilution of the votes of U.S. citizens" and that the work is "conducted diligently and professionally." [1]
- Justice Department (court hearing): Argued that data sharing and agent deployments are investigative tactics, that plaintiffs showed no specific citizen was questioned, and that any intimidation is "a minor aspect of lawfully investigative actions." [3]
Sources
Cite this case
Public Trust Tracker. "DHS "Unlawful Voter Initiative" checks on suspected noncitizen voters" (ELX-012). Last updated 21 Oct 2026. https://publictrusttracker.org/case/elx-012-dhs-unlawful-voter-initiative-checks-on-suspected-noncitizen/
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