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Federal Agents Armed, Knocking Doors to Hunt Noncitizen Voters
· Confirmed
In Short: Armed federal agents from the Department of Homeland Security are knocking on doors in multiple states to verify voter eligibility and immigration status.
Armed federal agents from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have been knocking on doors in several states to ask residents about their citizenship status and whether they have registered to vote or cast votes in past elections, according to CBS News and AlterNet.
According to internal Homeland Security records, President Donald Trump has deployed hundreds of federal agents, who have been pulled from criminal investigations, to hunt for suspected noncitizen voters in an armed operation across multiple states.
Eleven individuals were arrested during a single day of operations in California, representing just 0.0001 percent of the state's registered voters.
A video obtained by CBS News shows agents holding a document that says, 'Target List,' and a HSI agent confirmed that DHS is using information from internal databases, voter rolls, and other unspecified data sets.
In one incident, federal agents in uniform knocked on the door of a 72-year-old man from Belize, who was taken from his home in his pajamas and arrested on charges of allegedly voting illegally in the past four elections.
Since the start of the second Trump administration, 155 people have been charged with voter fraud offenses, according to Newsweek.
The door-knocking campaign expanded as the November elections approached in September and continued into October.
A USCIS whistleblower reported in September that employees were asked to review the voter information of tens of thousands of individuals across the country, including citizens.
The operation has been criticized by civil rights advocates and legal experts, who argue that it is designed to intimidate legitimate voters.
Jessica Marsden, a lawyer for Protect Democracy, said, 'What we're seeing now is the federal government is inserting itself into the state process for verifying their voter roles in an unprecedented way.'
Eric Balliet, a former Homeland Security Investigations agent, said the door-knocking operation is a significant departure from traditional law enforcement activities.
Dr. Carol Anderson, a professor of African American Studies at Emory University, noted, 'For civil rights advocates, the show of force has sparked concerns about the chilling effect it could have on legal voters.'
What this adds
The Justice Department has announced that Homeland Security agents in California arrested more than 20 people, all green card holders, on allegations they had illegally registered or cast a vote.
The DHS operation has been criticized for its potential chilling effect on legal voters and for the use of inaccurate data to target individuals.
Background
Armed federal agents from the Department of Homeland Security are knocking on doors in multiple states to verify voter eligibility and immigration status.
The Justice Department is threatening legal action against California if it does not review a list of alleged noncitizens on voter rolls within 48 hours, according to a letter sent by Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter.
What's confirmed
- President Donald Trump has unleashed hundreds of federal agents, who have been pulled from criminal investigations, to hunt for suspected noncitizen voters in an armed operation across multiple states, according to internal Homeland Security records.
- "In my 23 years with HSI, I never engaged in or was aware of any incident of initiative that sent Special Agents to private residences to verify the eligibility of voters," Balliet said.
- Eleven were arrested that day, and those charged represent just 0.0001 percent of California's registered voters.
- Per CBS, a video shows agents holding a document that says, "Target List." A HSI agent told the network that DHS is taking information from internal databases, voter rolls, and other unspecified data sets.
- According to CBS, uniformed agents knocked on doors, asking residents about their voter registration, previous election participation, and citizenship.
- The documents describe a “Criminal Voter Fraud” initiative, and images and videos have shown Homeland Security Investigations agents going to homes with guns.
What's still developing
- Some of those charges were in California, after federal officials sued the state for access to 20,000 ballots they believed could belong to noncitizens.
- "Anyone visited by a federal agent, citizen or not, should say nothing beyond 'I want to speak with a lawyer'," Patrick Eddington, a senior fellow with the libertarian Cato Institute, told Newsweek.
- "It is deeply, deeply concerning on multiple levels. This is highly irregular and inappropriate in many ways, and they're using tactics designed to intimidate legitimate voters rather than address any significant problem," Wendy Weiser, vice president for democracy at the Brennan Center for Justice, told Newsweek Wednesday.
- "They have used that faulty data for investigations and arrests in a manner that intimidates American citizens during the voting period. As the Court weighs the illegalities of DHS's actions, eligible voters must stand together, be courageous, and make their voices heard."
- That list can be far reaching, said a HSI agent familiar with the initiative who asked to speak anonymously.
- He said the DHS operations "reflect an anti-democratic departure from the mission Congress set for the Department, and serve only President Trump's voter suppression agenda, not a legitimate enforcement objective."
- "Responses to USCIS Form N-400 in Part 9, Questions 1-2 trigger these kinds of investigations everyday," she said.
- "DHS says it is targeting 300,000 people using data it admits is inaccurate, both in public and internally," Beau Tremitiere, counsel and deputy director of impact programs for civic space and rule of law at Protect Democracy, told Newsweek.
- Per the report, at least six states were included in “field reviews,” including California, Georgia, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Washington and Wisconsin.
- "HSI is actively rooting out and investigating election fraud wherever it can be found," said a DHS spokesperson.