President Donald Trump gestures at a reception for Republican members of Congress in the White House East Room on Tuesday, July 22, 2025, in Washington (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson).
The U.S. Department of Justice sued California on Thursday after the state declined to review a list of individuals the Trump administration believes are “likely noncitizens who were sent a vote-by-mail ballot.”
In a 15-page complaint, the DOJ alleges that California and its top election officials violated the U.S. Constitution’s supremacy clause by “knowingly” sending ballots to likely noncitizens and ultimately counting those ballots in violation of federal law.
The filing says agencies within the Department of Homeland Security conducted an extensive review of voter rolls and federal records, identifying thousands of likely noncitizens registered to vote in California who would automatically receive federal ballots under state law.
The Justice Department claims California is “knowingly” facilitating unlawful voting by sending ballots to registered voters without separating materials for state, local and federal elections.
According to the DOJ, many of the registered voters identified in the review are likely noncitizens.
“The State knows that noncitizens might be registered to vote, and it knows the names of such individuals,” the lawsuit states. “But it still intends to count their vote without verifying the voter’s citizenship.”
The government says U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services first assembled a list of potential noncitizens registered to vote in California. The agency then worked with Homeland Security Investigations to produce a final list of “around 20,000 noncitizens…registered to vote.”
As a result, the lawsuit says, nearly 20,000 noncitizens in California have been—or will be—sent vote-by-mail ballots for the federal election, with many of the listed addresses located in Los Angeles County.
The Trump administration submitted its findings to California officials earlier this week and “reiterated this serious concern with exacting details,” according to the complaint. The DOJ also asked the state to take specific action.
The filing describes the federal government’s request as follows:
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Federal officials asked California to review the list and work with federal agencies to determine whether U.S. citizens were included. If the state could not independently confirm the citizenship of individuals on the list, the government asked it to set aside ballots received from them until their status was verified. Because of the approaching election deadline, California was asked to complete the review by noon that day.
California declined to take part in the review.
The lawsuit says a Los Angeles election official instead issued a press release stating that the office had “rejected an encrypted thumb drive from a federal agent that identified likely noncitizen voters.”
The federal government argues that the decision showed “a total lack of commitment” to cooperating on measures designed to protect election integrity.
The complaint contends that California is “preempted” from sending and counting vote-by-mail ballots without verifying citizenship after federal officials have identified voters as likely noncitizens.
The Justice Department is seeking injunctive relief.
“The United States thus seeks commonplace election relief when a ballot is called into question,” the filing states. “This Court should enjoin California from presently tabulating vote-by-mail ballots from likely noncitizens in the upcoming federal election until the voter’s citizenship status can be determined.”
The DOJ also outlined the specific measures it wants the court to order.
The court should require California to set aside vote-by-mail ballots from individuals identified by the federal government as likely noncitizens and independently—or in cooperation with federal agencies—verify their citizenship before counting the ballots. The government says verification should go beyond relying on the unconfirmed citizenship statements required during voter registration, arguing that the requested relief would prevent the unlawful dilution of American citizens’ votes and safeguard election integrity.
In response, California Gov. Gavin Newsom called the lawsuit “a sad, desperate attempt” by Trump to suppress votes.
The post DOJ accuses California of ‘knowingly’ facilitating ‘unlawful voting’ after state declines to review list of 20,000 noncitizens allegedly sent vote-by-mail ballots first appeared on Law & Crime.
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