A federal judge in California on Wednesday restricted the Department of Homeland Security's hunt for suspected noncitizen voters, ordering the department to stop certain investigative actions in nine states because its data relies on faulty lists that include U.S. citizens legally allowed to vote, CNN reported.

Source: CNN via KION Central Coast — Judge curbs Trump administration's hunt for noncitizen voters in some states, citing flawed data, Oct. 21, 2026

U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín wrote that DHS's data alleging hundreds of thousands of possible illegal voters 'is widely known to inadvertently include U.S. citizens' and 'leaves citizens afraid that their name will be wrongly included in the hundreds of thousands identified for investigation,' according to CNN's account of the order.

Source: CNN via KION Central Coast — Judge curbs Trump administration's hunt for noncitizen voters in some states, citing flawed data, Oct. 21, 2026

The order covers California, Connecticut, Georgia, Missouri, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, Washington and Wisconsin — the nine states DHS targeted in its operation. It restricts election-related field operations and interviews, including door-knock questioning about immigration status and voting history, where officials know, suspect or reasonably should suspect the person is a U.S. citizen, the Washington Sun reported.

Source: Washington Sun — Judge Restricts Federal Agents' Ability to Question Suspected Noncitizen Voters at Their Homes, Oct. 22, 2026

9States covered by the injunction: CA, CT, GA, MO, NV, NY, PA, WA and WI
48.2 millionRecords the judge said DHS received through independent sources 'of questionable provenance'
50.6 millionFurther records from official state voter-roll data or unreliable commercial versions of it, per the order as reported

The judge identified the central problem as, in her words, 'the reliance on admittedly flawed and incomplete data to create a list of individuals for HSI to interview in the months leading up to an election,' CNN reported. Reporting on the order said she also found the crackdown likely violates Voting Rights Act protections against intimidating, threatening or coercing people engaged in voter mobilisation, and that members of the California Nurses Association — a plaintiff in the case — had withdrawn from electoral activity out of fear.

Source: Washington Sun — Judge Restricts Federal Agents' Ability to Question Suspected Noncitizen Voters at Their Homes, Oct. 22, 2026

'This order is a serious protection: the current policy targets known naturalized citizens,' Beau Tremitiere, an attorney for Protect Democracy, which represents groups that brought the case, told CNN. 'Those operations are prohibited.' CNN said it had reached out to DHS for comment.

Source: CNN via KION Central Coast — Judge curbs Trump administration's hunt for noncitizen voters in some states, citing flawed data, Oct. 21, 2026

What changes, and when

The restrictions do not take effect until Friday at 5 p.m., giving the Trump administration a window to appeal. Once in effect, they are set to remain in place until polls close on Election Day. The order does not end all DHS investigations — it bars the specified field operations and interviews where the target could be a U.S. citizen.

What is solid

  • Judge Martínez-Olguín restricted DHS election-related field operations and interviews in nine named states where the target is known or reasonably suspected to be a U.S. citizen — CNN and Washington Sun, reporting the Wednesday order.
  • The order takes effect Friday at 5 p.m., may be appealed before then, and lasts until polls close on Election Day — CNN and Washington Sun.

What is only claimed

  • The administration's position that the operations target unlawful noncitizen voting, versus the plaintiffs' and the judge's finding that flawed lists sweep in eligible citizens and risk intimidation — both positions are reported; the legal dispute is not final and an appeal may follow.