NAACP v. DHS

Nine organizations representing immigrants, communities of color, and workers — the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Mi Familia en Accion, OCA – Asian Pacific American Advocates, the National Urban League, Minnesota 8 (MN8), the Service Employees International Union, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the International Union of Painters (IUPAT), and the United Food and Commercial Workers International (UFCW) — filed a federal lawsuit today challenging the administration’s actions and statements that have put voters of color in reasonable fear that they will face federal interference when they go to vote, thereby chilling their participation in the upcoming midterm elections. The plaintiffs are represented by the Legal Defense Fund, Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF), Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law, LatinoJustice PRLDEF, National Immigration Law Center (NILC), Protect Democracy, and Democracy Defenders Fund.

The lawsuit aims to protect and strengthen the freedom to vote, helping ensure that all communities can fully participate in our democracy with confidence.

Background

Background

The complaint documents how the federal government has asserted authority for armed agents to operate in the vicinity of voting locations, dismantled internal agency guardrails against election interference, and made unprecedented attempts to assert federal executive power over election administration. The result is predictable: voters across the country — especially Black, Latino, Asian American and Pacific Islander, immigrant, and naturalized citizen voters as well as voters from mixed-status families — fear questioning, arrest, detention, surveillance, or use of force by federal agents while casting their ballot on Election Day, conducting voter registration, or serving as an election official. Such harms violate Section 11(b) of the Voting Rights Act, which prohibits intimidation, threats, and coercion of people for voting or attempting to vote, as well as people who encourage or assist others in voting.

The lawsuit comes amid repeated assertions from federal officials across the administration about potentially deploying federal law enforcement in the vicinity of polling locations during the 2026 midterm elections. In the past year, the federal government has also repeatedly circumvented, or disregarded the law in carrying out arrests, investigations, and immigration enforcement actions. 

Against that backdrop, the federal government’s statements threatening the presence of immigration agents and other law enforcement at polling locations undermine public confidence and deters eligible voters from participating in our democracy. The lawsuit calls on the courts to definitively prohibit the federal government’s threatened use of law enforcement at or around polling places.

Plaintiffs

Plaintiffs

• The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
• Mi Familia en Accion
• OCA – Asian Pacific American Advocates
• The National Urban League, Minnesota 8 (MN8)
• The Service Employees International Union
• The American Federation of Teachers (AFT)
• The International Union of Painters (IUPAT)
• The United Food and Commercial Workers International (UFCW)

Defendants

Defendants

• U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
• Markwayne Mullin, Secretary of Homeland Security
• U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
• David Venturella, Acting Director of ICE
• U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ)
• Todd Blanche, Attorney General
• Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
• Kash Patel, Director of the FBI
• Thomas Homan, White House Executive Associate Director of Enforcement and Removal Operations

Case documents

Case documents