California Nurses Association v. DHS

On Sept. 18, the California Nurses Association, National Nurses United, the County of Santa Clara, the City and County of San Francisco, and Voto Latino Foundation filed suit against the Department of Homeland Security challenging DHS’s practice of sending armed federal agents to Americans’ homes to question their eligibility to vote. Protect Democracy, the National Immigration Law Center, the San Francisco City Attorney and the Santa Clara County Counsel are co-counsel in the case. 

The complaint alleges the practice violates Section 11(b) of the Voting Rights Act, which prohibits intimidating, threatening, or coercing voters or those assisting voters, or attempting to do so; violates the constitutional right to vote; intrudes upon state and local authority to administer elections; and violates the Administrative Procedure Act. 

Background

Background

DHS’s practice of investigating voters is invasive and illegal:

• DHS built target lists by matching its records against public state voter files, a process the complaint alleges is highly likely to produce large numbers of false positives.
• Those lists were sent to ICE field offices, where agents were directed to conduct in-person interviews at people’s homes.
• Americans most exposed include naturalized citizens, citizens in mixed-status households, and citizens who acquired citizenship as children and may have never held documentation of it.
• The suit asks the court to declare the practice unlawful and to stop it. It does not seek damages.

Determining who is eligible to vote is the responsibility of state and local election officials, not armed federal agents. Section 11(b) of the Voting Rights Act protects that process wherever pressure is applied — including at a voter’s front door, weeks before an election.

Plaintiffs

Plaintiffs

• California Nurses Association
• National Nurses United
• The County of Santa Clara
• The City and County of San Francisco
• Voto Latino

Defendants

Defendants

• U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
• Markwayne Mullin, Secretary of DHS
• U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)
• Joseph B. Edlow, Director of USCIS
• U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
• David J. Venturella, Senior official performing the duties of Director of ICE
• Anthony Salisbury, Executive Associate Director of Homeland Security Investigations and the Principal Deputy Homeland Security Adviser to the White House
• U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP)
• Rodney S. Scott, Commissioner of CBP
• Thomas Homan, Assistant to the President and Border Czar

Case documents

Case documents