Trump Action Archive

Supporting reports

• DOJ sues California over alleged noncitizen voters — The Department of Justice sued the state of California, alleging that 20,000 noncitizens remain on the state's voter rolls and demanding the state be blocked from tabulating certain ballots the DOJ claimed might belong to noncitizens. California state officials rejected the federal claims, stating the DOJ had wrongly flagged U.S. citizens and people whose voter registrations had already been cancelled as potential ineligible voters. The 20,000 alleged noncitizens represent a tiny fraction of California's 23 million registered voters.

Supporting reports

• DHS arrests Omar Muñoz in high-profile operation for alleged unlawful voter registration — Department of Homeland Security agents arrested Omar Muñoz, a 72-year-old lawful permanent resident, at his Commerce, California home in an early morning operation on October 21, 2026. Muñoz was one of 28 green card holders charged in California with allegedly registering to vote unlawfully. The arrest was conducted with significant law enforcement presence, including a helicopter, and was subsequently publicized by the Department of Justice in a promotional video. Muñoz, who is frail from recent surgeries, was handcuffed and shackled despite his physical condition. The operation occurred two weeks before midterm elections.

Supporting reports

• Justice Department charges 28 permanent residents with voting violations — On October 19, the Justice Department charged 28 lawful permanent residents in California with alleged voting-related offenses, including registering or voting without U.S. citizenship. Eleven had been arrested on Monday. The charges remain unproven in court. The government has claimed approximately 20,000 California voters could be noncitizens, though these charges do not establish the accuracy of that claim.
• Justice Department Charges 28 Foreign Nationals in California for Election Crimes — The Department of Justice announced this on 2026-10-19 through Office of the Attorney General. The recorded stage is an arrest. The allegations are unadjudicated; this documents the announcement, not the truth of any allegation. The department's own account of it reads: "Federal law enforcement throughout California today arrested 11 foreign nationals living in the United States who are among 28 total charged in criminal complaints with federal crimes, including that they fraudulently registered to vote in U.S. elections, electoral contests in which most of them cast illegal and fraudulently obtained ballots."

Supporting reports

• HSI considered undercover operations against voter registration groups — According to internal documents, Homeland Security Investigations considered deploying undercover agents to investigate voter registration organizations, with Pennsylvania and New Jersey as priority targets. The stated goal was for undercover agents to engage with organizations to "substantiate recruitment methods and activities related to illegal alien voter registration," gather evidence, disrupt activities, trace financial backing, and ultimately "initiate prosecutions and dismantle illicit facilitation networks." It remains unclear whether undercover operations were actually conducted.
• HSI investigated over 150 voter registration organizations — Homeland Security Investigations conducted investigations into over 150 organizations suspected of facilitating unlawful noncitizen voter registration. For the vast majority, HSI found no derogatory information. Twenty-six organizations remain under review, and two were flagged for further investigation in Pennsylvania: the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and Zumiez, a skateboard and clothing retailer. HSI also investigated Black Fork Strategies, a progressive Ohio voter engagement firm, in coordination with the FBI.
• DHS documents reveal election denier Heather Honey's role in noncitizen voting investigation — Internal Department of Homeland Security documents obtained by Popular Information reveal that election denier Heather Honey is playing a prominent role in DHS efforts to find evidence of noncitizen voting ahead of midterm elections. The documents detail DHS investigations into nonprofit voter registration organizations and outline plans for potential undercover operations targeting these groups. The revelation raises questions about whether election-fraud investigations are being driven by ideological commitments rather than evidence of actual violations.

Supporting reports

• ICE collected tens of millions of voter records for deportation targeting — Immigration and Customs Enforcement, under direction of Deputy Assistant Secretary Heather Honey, collected approximately 48.4 million voter records through undisclosed "independent sources" and obtained an additional 50.6 million records from the Department of Justice. Records from ten states—Texas, Pennsylvania, California, New Jersey, Minnesota, Michigan, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, and Ohio—were prioritized. The data was sent to HSI's Innovation Lab and is pending entry into Palantir's ELITE system, used to identify and locate people for deportation. This effort targets noncitizen voters, though noncitizen voting is extremely rare.

Supporting reports

• Billionaires fund California Proposition 39 voter ID ballot measure — Multiple billionaires, including Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia, Richard Uihlein, and others, have donated over $36 million to support California's Proposition 39, a ballot measure requiring voters to show identification at polls and including ID numbers on mail ballots. The measure was authored by Republican lawmaker Carl DeMaio in response to Trump administration pressure. California currently requires ID only at voter registration, not at polling places. The yes campaign has vastly outraised opponents by approximately $13 million. Democratic groups, the ACLU, and the League of Women Voters oppose the measure.

Supporting reports

• Supreme Court paused lower court order on SAVE citizenship database — The Supreme Court, over the dissent of its three liberal justices, paused a lower court order and allowed the administration to resume using its overhauled SAVE database while litigation continues. The SAVE system links Social Security data with state voter rolls for citizenship verification. A federal judge had found in June that the overhaul violated the Privacy Act and other federal laws. When Texas ran all 18 million of its voters through SAVE, the system flagged 2,724 people; nearly 20 percent were confirmed as citizens and reinstated. Federal law prohibits systematic voter purges within 90 days of federal elections. The Court's majority acknowledged this limit but stated citizenship checks remain permissible in that window and each state decides whether to use SAVE.
• U.S. Supreme Court rules Trump administration may resume voter suppression database for voter removal — The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Friday that the Trump administration can resume using its voter suppression database to help Republicans remove voters from the rolls. The decision permits the federal government to conduct individualized voter inquiries using the modified SAVE program during the 90-day quiet period before Election Day, though the Court acknowledged this "limits the potential impact" of the ruling. The Court has scheduled a separate case, Republican National Committee v. Mi Familia Vota, for December argument to consider the scope of the quiet period and whether states may conduct systematic noncitizen removal during that window.

Supporting reports

• California Supreme Court orders sheriff to return confiscated ballots — California's Supreme Court ruled that Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco unlawfully confiscated over 650,000 ballots during an inquiry into unsubstantiated fraud claims following a November 2025 special election. Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero found the seizure violated election law and created substantial risk to election integrity. Attorney General Rob Bonta had ordered Bianco to return the ballots; Bianco refused. The court rejected Bianco's argument that the AG could not direct a sheriff's investigation, affirming state authority over election materials. Governor Newsom signed legislation preventing future ballot seizures.
• California Supreme Court ordered sheriff to return confiscated ballots — The California Supreme Court ordered Sheriff Chad Bianco to return the confiscated ballots, ruling that it was Bianco, not voters, who was endangering elections. The court stated: "Allowing law enforcement unfettered access to ballots, or the ability to handle and count them in secret, based on unregulated protocols, itself creates a substantial risk to election integrity."

Supporting reports

• DHS whistleblower alleges voter impersonation by federal agents — A Department of Homeland Security whistleblower alleged that DHS, as part of its "Unlawful Voter Initiative," directed federal agents to impersonate voters in violation of state laws, using Social Security numbers and other information to look up voter history on state websites. The allegation prompted US Senators Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff to request an investigation by California's attorney general, citing concerns about how DHS obtained and used voter data and whether it complied with law.

Supporting reports

• Nevada secretary of state rejected DHS noncitizen voter list — On Tuesday, Nevada Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar stated that the 185 people on the DHS list of alleged noncitizens are all citizens according to Nevada's records. Aguilar said: "Our records do not support DHS's claims, and DHS has still not provided evidence to change that. Instead, DHS officials continue their attempts to intimidate election officials into compliance and deter voters with huge claims of fraud with no evidence."

Supporting reports

• Complaint filed: DSCC v. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (D.D.C. 1:26-cv-03330) — The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Democratic Governors Association, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries filed a federal complaint against the Department of Homeland Security, ICE, and the FBI, alleging they have adopted a policy to station armed officers at polling places during the 2026 general election. Plaintiffs claim the policy violates 18 U.S.C. § 592 and Section 11(b) of the Voting Rights Act, chills voting particularly among naturalized citizens, and forces Democratic organizations to divert resources to voter protection. They seek declaratory and injunctive relief barring armed officers from polling places, drop boxes, and curbside voting locations.

Supporting reports

• Complaint filed: NAACP v. Department of Homeland Security et al. (D.D.C. 1:26-cv-03263) — Nine civil rights organizations and labor unions, including the NAACP, Mi Familia en Acción, OCA–Asian Pacific American Advocates, National Urban League, and MN8, filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against the Department of Homeland Security, ICE, DOJ, the FBI, and associated officials. The complaint alleges that the Trump administration's rescission of a DHS policy limiting immigration arrests near polling places, combined with rhetoric declining to rule out deploying armed agents near voting locations during the 2026 midterms and expansion of the "Unlawful Voter Initiative" (cross-referencing voter rolls against immigration databases in at least nine states), violates Section 11(b) of the Voting Rights Act by intimidating voters and persons aiding voters. Plaintiffs seek a declaration of violation and an injunction against unlawful voter intimidation.

Supporting reports

• DHS created thousands of potentially unreliable Tecs records on voters based on unverified data — A whistleblower disclosed that the Department of Homeland Security created thousands of records in the Tecs law enforcement database against California residents based on data officers had reason to believe was unreliable or inaccurate. In some cases, DHS provided officers with names and voting dates that did not match state voter registration records. Officers were instructed to create files despite these contradictions and without access to corroborating information, potentially resulting in tens of thousands of erroneous records affecting residents' legal status.

Supporting reports

• Trump administration proposes citizenship question on census and eliminates race/ethnicity data collection — The Trump administration issued a new proposal to add a citizenship question to the U.S. Census questionnaire and bar the Census Bureau from collecting race and ethnicity data despite the nation collecting such demographics since 1790. The citizenship question could exclude millions of people from the census count, affecting congressional apportionment, electoral district mapping, and federal funding allocation to states. The move directly contradicts the 14th Amendment's requirement to count all people living in the United States.

Supporting reports

• North Carolina Board of Elections adopted voter-suppressing mail-ballot rules — The North Carolina Board of Elections (NCBOE), described as newly partisan, adopted rules making mail-in voting significantly more difficult. The changes include stricter envelope-sealing requirements and a new restriction limiting who may deliver absentee ballots to "near relatives" only, replacing prior practice. Democracy Out Loud's Legislative Response/Board of Elections Team filed objections to the rules, which the NCBOE disregarded. The effect is to increase the likelihood that mail ballots will be rejected for minor infractions.

Supporting reports

• Steve Bannon announced plan to deploy ICE agents to surround polling places — On his podcast, Steve Bannon stated that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents would "surround the polls come November" to prevent what he characterized as election theft, declaring "we will never again allow an election to be stolen." This public announcement of armed federal presence at polling locations preceded similar statements by administration officials and represented a coordinated messaging effort to normalize federal law enforcement at voting sites.

Supporting reports

• DHS identifies over 250,000 potential noncitizens on voter rolls; state officials question accuracy — DHS reported identifying more than 250,000 potential noncitizens on voter rolls in California, Nevada, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. State election officials questioned the numbers and how they were produced. In Nevada, DHS initially suggested nearly 16,000 noncitizens could be registered; after further review, federal officials told Nevada they had confirmed only 185 people as noncitizens, while more than 14,000 cases still required additional review.

Supporting reports

• Homeland Security Investigations launches coordinated voter fraud initiative — Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) began a coordinated voter fraud investigation across nine states, directing agents to investigate leads, conduct interviews, and develop cases for federal prosecutors. USCIS investigators are also assisting with election-related work, pulling the federal immigration system into election enforcement less than two months before the midterm elections.
• HSI launches nine-state voter-fraud investigation surge — Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the investigative arm of ICE, has launched a voter-fraud investigation surge across nine states. The operation is set to start approximately two months before Election Day (November 3, 2026) and is planned to continue into the period when early and mail voting will be underway. Investigators have been instructed to follow leads and help move cases to federal prosecutors. The operation is scheduled to wind down in mid-October.

Supporting reports

• USCIS officers reassigned from immigration fraud to voter-data review — The Washington Post reported that hundreds of USCIS officers normally investigating fraud and security concerns in immigration applications have been reassigned to review voter data for noncitizens. DHS did not confirm the specific number, but a USCIS spokesperson confirmed the voter-data operation is underway. This reassignment diverts immigration personnel from their standard duties to support federal election enforcement efforts.

Supporting reports

• DHS redirects immigration officers to examine voter registration data for noncitizens — The Department of Homeland Security redirected hundreds of USCIS fraud and national security officers from immigration case work to examine voter information for possible noncitizen registrations. DHS claimed that nearly 250,000 noncitizens may be registered across four states, but the agency has not publicly substantiated the figure. State election officials examining the data have questioned its reliability. Pennsylvania Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt, a Republican, reported that federal officials acknowledged they lacked high confidence that thousands of Pennsylvania names DHS identified actually represented improperly registered noncitizens.

Supporting reports

• Tarrant County, Texas proposes reducing polling locations by 92 ahead of midterm elections — Tarrant County, Texas—the state's third-largest county with over 2 million residents and a key battleground in the U.S. Senate race between Democratic state Rep. James Talarico and Republican AG Ken Paxton—proposed reducing polling locations by 92 compared to the 2022 midterms. The proposal was set for a vote on Tuesday. Democratic state Rep. James Talarico urged the county to reject the proposal, stating: "The most powerful people in this county, the most powerful people in this country, don't want us to be able vote easily." Democrats protested the reductions, warning they could create confusion in the midterm elections.

Supporting reports

• USPS whistleblower reports flawed ballot mail system designed to disrupt mail-in voting — Senator Richard Blumenthal released a whistleblower complaint alleging that the U.S. Postal Service has developed a new, untested IT system for handling federal election ballot mail that is "secretive, rushed, chaotic, and fundamentally flawed." The whistleblower warns that a single barcode scanning failure in a batch of 10,000 ballots will reject the entire batch, potentially preventing millions of voters from receiving mail-in ballots. The system was developed despite a federal court injunction ordering work to stop. The whistleblower questions whether "catastrophic failure would be a feature rather than a bug."
• Federal whistleblower disclosed flaws in USPS mail-voting verification system — An anonymous federal worker filed a whistleblower disclosure with Senator Blumenthal warning that the U.S. Postal Service's new system to regulate mail voting for the midterms has been "rushed, chaotic, and fundamentally flawed." The USPS issued the rule last week, and it is currently blocked by federal court. The whistleblower alleges workers were forced to create the system in weeks when it should have taken 9 months, and that work continued on implementation even after being ordered to stop. The disclosure warns the Trump administration "has hidden the high likelihood that the new ballot mail verification processes will result in major disruptions in mail ballots ever getting delivered to voters." Specific concerns include rejection of entire batches of thousands of ballots when a problem with one voter is found, and no planning for inevitable errors. The whistleblower called one portion of internal software "garbage."
• USPS whistleblower reports catastrophic flaws in new ballot-handling system — A whistleblower disclosed to Congress that the new USPS system for handling federal election ballot mail contains "potentially catastrophic problems." The system rejects entire batches of ballots if even a single barcode fails to scan during verification, preventing thousands of ballots from reaching voters. The disclosure was made public on September 2, four days before Massachusetts began sending mail-in ballots.
• Senator Blumenthal demands USPS Postmaster General cease ballot mail project and provide records — Senator Richard Blumenthal, top-ranking Democrat on the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, issued formal demands to Postmaster General David Steiner to abandon the ballot mail IT project, cease work ordered halted by federal court, and provide by September 8 all records related to the project, including names and dates of personnel involved. Blumenthal characterized the system as designed to "disenfranchise millions of Americans," noting that one-third of all Americans cast ballots by mail.

Supporting reports

• Kansas Court of Appeals blocked mail ballot deadline restriction — The Kansas Court of Appeals refused to allow Secretary of State Scott Schwab to revive a law that would have discarded mail ballots arriving after Election Day. Kansas has counted ballots postmarked by Election Day and arriving within three days since 2017. This three-day cushion saved 2,110 ballots in 2024 and 32,000 in 2020, and the protection holds for the August 4 primary.

Supporting reports

• FBI requested voter's IP address as part of voter fraud investigation — Axios reported that Trump's FBI requested and received the IP address of an individual who registered online to vote in South Carolina as part of a new strategy by the administration to investigate alleged voter fraud. A former senior Justice Department official said it is both "not typical" and "not appropriate" for the FBI to conduct a "fishing expedition to see private voter data."

Supporting reports

• Trump administration and states urge justices to allow full implementation of executive order on mail-in voting — The Trump administration, along with several states, has petitioned the Supreme Court to permit the complete enforcement of an executive order concerning mail-in voting. This request seeks to implement new restrictions on mail-in voting, which have been contested in lower courts. The administration argues that these measures are necessary to ensure election integrity, while opponents claim they could suppress voter turnout. The Supreme Court's decision on this matter will have significant implications for the upcoming elections and the broader debate over voting rights.
• Trump administration files emergency appeal to restrict mail-in voting — The Trump administration filed an emergency appeal asking the Supreme Court to allow the president's March executive order restricting mail-in voting to move forward ahead of November's midterm elections. The move came two days after a federal appeals court upheld a block on the order, writing that allowing it to take effect for the midterms "would sow confusion and threaten disenfranchisement of many eligible voters."
• Trump administration sought Supreme Court review of mail voting restrictions — The Trump administration petitioned the Supreme Court to allow enforcement of Trump's mail voting order, which directs Homeland Security to compile state citizenship lists and requires Postal Service rules limiting mail ballots to voters on those lists. Twenty-three states and Washington, D.C., had successfully challenged the restrictions, and the First Circuit declined to revive them. The petition seeks to overturn lower court decisions blocking the order's implementation.