The Justice Department is asking a federal judge to consider imposing sanctions, including potential contempt charges, on an immigrant rights group and its lawyers. The department contends that the group violated a court order by publishing an analysis of data concerning suspected noncitizens registered to vote in California.
U.S. District Court Chief Judge James Boasberg had granted the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA) access to federal data on over 20,000 individuals the Trump administration alleged were noncitizen voters in California. The order stipulated that the group could not disclose any names and must use the data solely for arguments regarding their legal standing to challenge the administration's use of the list.
Attorneys for CHIRLA filed court papers revealing their analysis found that more than 40% of the individuals on the list did not appear in the state's voter file. The analysis also identified 22 individuals who were likely naturalized U.S. citizens and suggested thousands more U.S. citizens appeared on the list.
The Justice Department stated in a filing that this analysis was irrelevant to the group's legal standing and thus breached Boasberg's order. The department suggested the judge refer the matter to the Justice Department for investigation into possible criminal contempt of court.
Alberto Lammers, a spokesperson for the UCLA Voting Rights Project, which handled the data analysis for CHIRLA, asserted that "Plaintiffs’ counsel and their experts fully complied with the Court’s orders."
In a separate case, the Justice Department is appealing a ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Trina L. Thompson, who barred the department from demanding that election offices remove potential noncitizens from voter rolls or segregate their ballots. The department noted that Thompson's ruling came before the government could submit its initial arguments.
California election officials have also questioned the accuracy of the list, stating they lack the resources to verify and remove voters in the tight timeframe before an election. Individuals registering to vote in California attest to their U.S. citizenship and face felony charges if they vote illegally. The administration has maintained that its list was compiled using state voter registration data cross-referenced with federal citizenship records. The Justice Department had previously issued subpoenas to California election offices and warned officials against knowingly allowing noncitizens to vote.