A Biden-appointed federal judge in California ruled Wednesday that the Department of Homeland Security must halt certain investigations into suspected illegal voting, citing concerns over voter intimidation.

U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín, the jurist in question, was born in Mexico and nominated to the federal bench by President Joe Biden in 2022. Before becoming a federal judge, Martínez-Olguín spent about six years at the American Civil Liberties Union, a progressive civil rights organization, where she worked on women's and immigrants' rights issues.

The activist groups suing DHS "demonstrate[d] that they are likely to succeed in their claim that Defendants have run afoul of the Voting Rights Act’s prohibition of intimidating voter assistance and mobilization," according to Martínez-Olguín.

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The public’s "interests in safe elections, free from interference or intimidation, far exceed (the government’s) purported interest in combating unlawful voting by non-U.S. citizens," she added.

The Trump administration, meanwhile, maintained that noncitizen voting in federal elections is a crime and that DHS has statutory authority to investigate suspected violations. Martínez-Olguín did not find investigating noncitizen voting as itself unlawful, but instead argued that DHS’ methods likely violate the law as it used unreliable source data and sent armed agents to homes to conduct interviews, which could constitute intimidation.

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Lawyers representing the federal government conceded that some American citizens may have been looked at in connection with DHS’ investigations, but contended that in-person interviews were "expressly designed to resolve the discrepancies."

Noncitizen voting is rare, but cases of illegal voting have been documented. News broke earlier this year, for example, that New Jersey erroneously placed over 6,000 non-citizens on its voter rolls. The Justice Department announced charges against 16 individuals in September, including noncitizens accused of voting illegally in federal elections, and brought additional election-related charges in October.

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Martínez-Olguín’s order blocks DHS from carrying out certain field investigations into suspected illegal voting involving U.S. citizens in California, Connecticut, Georgia, Missouri, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, Washington and Wisconsin. Several of those states are led by Democrats who have opposed the Trump administration's immigration enforcement policies, and some face high-profile elections in November.

Cracking down on illegal voting has been a priority for the second Trump administration, though it has yet to produce evidence of widespread noncitizen voting.

The judge delayed enforcement of her order until Friday, giving the Trump administration time to appeal, and set the restrictions to expire on Election Day unless otherwise ordered.

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"DHS is laser focused on identifying, prosecuting, and removing aliens who vote and dilute the votes of U.S. citizens. ONLY Americans should elect American leaders," a spokesperson for the department told Fox News Digital. "We have no plans to question or investigate people we believe to be U.S. citizens."

House Democrats' No. 3 leader is under fire for his opposition to voter ID in his home state of California.

House Democratic Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., spoke at a press conference earlier this month criticizing a measure on Californians' ballot this Election Day that, if passed, would mandate that voters show government-issued photo ID at the polls.

He made the comments just weeks before the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a crime bust that saw several U.S. permanent residents accused of registering to vote despite not being citizens.

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Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Calif., hammered Aguilar's opposition to voter ID and argued the DOJ's recent actions made it "obvious" that the ballot measure, called Proposition 39, was needed.

"Give me a break," Calvert told Fox News Digital. "You have to show an ID to board an airplane, cash a paycheck, rent an apartment or even buy cold medicine at the grocery store. Democrats claiming that requiring photo ID before casting a ballot is somehow 'racist' or 'voter suppression' is complete nonsense and an insult to every voter's intelligence."

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Rep. Vince Fong, R-Calif., said voter ID "is basic election security that the vast majority of Americans support, and 36 states already require."

"While opponents are resorting to lies and fearmongering, Proposition 39 is commonsense reform in a world where you need an ID to rent a car, stay at a hotel, open a bank account or board a flight," Fong told Fox News Digital. "The DOJ's recent voter fraud bust in California is exactly why these safeguards matter."

Rep. Young Kim, R-Calif., similarly said showing photo ID is a "simple standard we already require to board a plane, purchase alcohol or pick up a prescription."

"This isn't controversial and it shouldn't be complicated. Our elections deserve at least as much consideration as a beer or a bottle of wine," Kim told Fox News Digital.

Aguilar, meanwhile, criticized Proposition 39 during a press conference with Democratic gubernatorial candidate and former Biden administration Cabinet Secretary Xavier Becerra earlier this month.

"We will not stand for this, because we will not stand for people to lose an opportunity to exercise their ability to vote. In Arizona, they tried this. They wanted folks to put their driver's license numbers on their ballots. Think about that. What if you miss one digit? Your vote doesn't count?" Aguilar proposed. "What if you're married in California? What if you're married, and you haven't changed your name and you go to vote? No longer will you be able to vote. That is what is at stake for Californians."

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He called it a "voter suppression effort" pushed by Republicans.

"Republicans can win only when they suppress the vote. Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans know that they are bankrupt of ideas and solutions, and so they have to change the rules of the game," Aguilar said.

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Meanwhile, the California government criticized the DOJ's operation while pointing to reports that said more of those charged were registered as Republicans rather than Democrats.

"For nearly a decade, Trump has baselessly alleged mass voter fraud rings were employed by Democrats and utilized 'illegal immigrants' to sway elections across the country – often pointing to California," a release on Gov. Gavin Newsom's state website read. "Courts at all levels have rejected the claims of vast voter fraud or that elections were rigged against the President."

Voter ID laws currently exist in 36 states and polls have shown they have a majority of Americans' support.

But in Congress, several efforts to pass federal voter ID legislation have been thwarted by Democrats in recent years.

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Fox News Digital reached out to Aguilar's campaign for a response to his GOP House colleagues' comments.

Muslim leftist Michigan U.S. Senate candidate Abdulrahman El-Sayed on Wednesday rejected requiring proof of citizenship and voter ID for elections, calling GOP-led efforts to secure U.S. elections "about voter suppression."

The post Michigan Debate: El-Sayed Claims SAVE America Act ‘About Voter Suppression’ appeared first on Breitbart.

"Those who are here legally and are not breaking other laws have nothing to fear," a DHS spokesperson said.

The post Report: Federal Agents Knock on Doors to Crack Down on Noncitizens Voting Ahead of Midterms appeared first on Breitbart.