Lawsuit targets DHS and DOJ as states fight federal election moves
The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday seeking to block the U.S. Department of Homeland Security from using federal databases the group alleges are being used to target naturalized citizens who are eligible to vote.
The complaint was filed in U.S. District Court in Washington by the UCLA Voting Rights Project on the coalition’s behalf. It names DHS and the U.S. Justice Department as defendants and alleges the federal government is “interfering with fair elections” by relying on what the suit describes as “inaccurate federal databases.”
According to the lawsuit, those databases are being used “in an attempt to buttress allegations of voter fraud,” the plaintiffs allege.
At a news conference Wednesday in downtown Los Angeles, coalition executive director Angelica Salas spoke about the federal effort. Salas said the federal government is engaging in an “attack on the freedom to vote.” She added: “This is voter intimidation.”
Xavier Becerra, the Democratic nominee for California governor who is acting as a senior adviser to the UCLA Voting Rights Project, also addressed reporters in Los Angeles. “It’s not an accident the federal government is trying to interfere with the right to vote,” Becerra said. “They believe they can intimidate naturalized U.S. citizens.”
The complaint is part of a series of legal actions by states, including California, that have sought to fend off federal actions that, the suit and state filings contend, could create confusion during the midterm elections.