Federal Judge Cites Whistleblower in Case Blocking DHS Field Operations in California, Across the Country

DOJ is also relying on the same unreliable data in its ongoing attempt to block counting of 20,000 ballots in California

SACRAMENTO, CA – A federal judge in the Northern District of California blocked DHS agents in California, Connecticut, Georgia, Missouri, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, Washington and Wisconsin from carrying out most field operations aimed at uncovering President Trump’s baseless claims of widespread voter fraud. The judge’s ruling cited a recent Department of Homeland Security (DHS) whistleblower disclosure received by Senators Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Rules Committee with jurisdiction over federal elections and Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Immigration Subcommittee, and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y). The court’s ruling found such operations rely upon flawed, rushed information assembled by the agency through suspicious methods, including something called “supplemental magic”, as laid out in the whistleblower disclosure. Known U.S. citizens are being swept up into the initiative, raising concerns about voter intimidation. 

“Donald Trump has spent a decade peddling the Big Lie and baseless, disproven claims of mass voter fraud. Now, less than two weeks before Election Day, a federal court has blocked an effort that threatened to intimidate voters and sweep up innocent citizens and noncitizens who have not voted. Federal law protects whistleblowers from retaliation, and this latest victory for free and fair elections is possible thanks to the courage of the whistleblower who exposed how DHS is collecting and weaponizing flawed data,” Senator Padilla said. “But we must remain vigilant. Right now, the Trump Administration is trying to throw out votes in California based on information that they know is unreliable. And they’re threatening to expand this effort to other states as they try to protect themselves from accountability at the ballot box. We must continue to counter Trump’s baseless election lies and do everything in our power to ensure that all eligible voters are able to cast their ballots free from the fear or intimidation.”

Last week, in a political stunt apparently based on the same flawed data, Trump’s Department of Justice (DOJ) sued California, alleging it had identified more than 20,000 people on their voter rolls who DHS said were “likely noncitizens.” DOJ officials admitted that the data were flawed, and a preliminary review by Los Angeles County found that out of a sample of 200 on the DHS-provided list, “38.9% indicate that they were born in the United States, which is strong evidence of citizenship” and that over 70% had no voting history and that many of the alleged ineligible voters on the DOJ list had never received a ballot. These new findings were not surprising based on the consistent pattern of the Trump Administration touting thousands of supposed ineligible voters on rolls, which then collapse under scrutiny. The federal judge in this case has set a hearing for October 27.

The DHS whistleblower made a protected disclosure to the Senators, which was released on September 14, 2026 and alleged:

• DHS agents are being ordered to violate state laws and access sensitive voter information under false pretenses. Agents assigned to the “Unlawful Voter Initiative” are directed to use personal information from DHS data to lie to access voter information on state voter registration websites, making false attestations that they are a voter or are acting with a voter’s express authorization in order to access sensitive voter data.

• Leadership is pressuring USCIS personnel to create law enforcement records with information that is likely to be false, which will have serious negative consequences for eligible American voters and other innocent individuals. USCIS headquarters admits that DHS data can conflict with state records and contain both uncertainties and inconsistencies. Yet agency leadership directed officers to create “TECS” federal law enforcement records that relied solely on unreliable DHS-provided voting or registration data, even if officers believe it to be unreliable.

• Known U.S. citizens are being swept up into the initiative, based on faulty and rushed data that DHS compiled using “supplemental magic.” Naturalized U.S. citizens are being investigated through this initiative without their knowledge or ability to correct erroneous data, with law enforcement records being generated against them. 

• USCIS officers are facing demanding quotas and unrealistic timelines. Agency leadership is requiring five investigations per hour, or 12 minutes each, only further compounding the potential for errors.

As Ranking Member of the Senate Rules Committee and California’s former Secretary of State and chief election officer, Padilla has fought relentlessly to protect our elections and strengthen voting rights. 

• Earlier this week, Padilla condemned the DOJ for meddling in California’s elections.
• Last week, Padilla demanded that DOJ commit to not seize ballots or voting equipment during the midterm elections.
• Last month, Padilla introduced the Freedom from Intimidation in Elections Act, legislation to protect voters and election workers from intimidation and threats of violence at polling places.
• Padilla also led the congressional response to the bombshell whistleblower report that DHS agents violated state laws as part of the “Unlawful Voter Initiative” and called for an immediate investigation into the agency’s misconduct, which has likely led to the creation of dubious lists of supposedly ineligible voters. He also urged California’s Attorney General to investigate the effects these actions could have on Californians.   
• Also last month, Padilla convened some of the country’s top labor leaders to discuss how to strengthen our democracy and mobilize against election interference. 
• In August, he led 27 of his Senate colleagues in demanding the Trump Administration stop its illegal voter roll purges before Election Day.
• Padilla also joined Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) in launching the first-ever Senate Election Observer Program to protect the 2026 midterms and maintain election integrity nationwide and serves as part of the Senate Democrats’ Election Protection Task Force. This week, Padilla announced that more than 100 Senate Democratic staff have been recruited and trained as official congressional election observers to be deployed to polling sites across nine states.
• In June, Padilla joined his colleagues in introducing the Protect Our Polls Act to protect the integrity of American elections from federal interference by armed military or federal law enforcement.

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