Civil rights groups sued the Department of Homeland Security in federal court in California on Wednesday, alleging the agency and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services are investigating naturalized and derivative U.S. citizens under a program they call the Unlawful Voter Initiative, days before Election Day^2,11.

The New York Times reported Thursday a Justice Department inquiry in California over alleged noncitizen voters, citing people with knowledge of the matter and subpoena copies it said it obtained¹.

The two actions sit inside a wider Trump administration push against alleged noncitizen voting, including a Justice Department lawsuit seeking to keep California from counting ballots of about 20,000 people on a federal list, and a similar demand covering about 400 people in Washington state^2,11.

OCA-Asian Pacific American Advocates and Common Cause filed the DHS case with representation from the American Civil Liberties Union^2,11. They ask a judge to stop Homeland Security from targeting naturalized citizens and from telling state or local officials not to count ballots solely because a voter appears on a DHS list of alleged noncitizens^2,11.

The complaint says Homeland Security and USCIS created a rushed process that treats naturalized and derivative citizens as potential criminals and then tries to keep them from voting^2,11. Plaintiffs tie the claims to a September whistleblower report released by Senate Democrats that said DHS was investigating naturalized citizens without their knowledge^2,11.

Homeland Security did not respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit Wednesday^2,11. In a separate news release the same day, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said, "American elections are for Americans only," while highlighting voter-fraud arrests^2,11.

A federal judge in San Francisco last week blocked DHS election-related field operations in nine states — California, Connecticut, Georgia, Missouri, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, Washington and Wisconsin — until polls close, after advocates said armed agents were going to homes to ask about voter status^2,11. DHS on Tuesday asked the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to pause that injunction and sought a ruling by Thursday^2,11.

Justice Department lawyer Gabriel Schonfeld wrote that the injunction would continue to interfere with federal law-enforcement operations tied to midterm security and integrity^2,11. The appeals court ordered remaining papers filed by Wednesday^2,11.

In the separate California ballot-list case, a federal judge on Tuesday indicated he was considering a special master to review the government's list of about 20,000 suspected noncitizen voters and appeared reluctant to order officials to set ballots aside while voting is underway^2,11. California officials have questioned the list's accuracy; Homeland Security compiled it, according to the States Newsroom report^2,11.

Pew Research Center analysis cited in that report says about 10 percent of Americans eligible to vote this year are naturalized citizens, including nearly 22 percent of eligible voters in California^2,11. What a grand jury in California will examine, which officials received subpoenas, and whether the 9th Circuit will restore DHS field operations remain unknown^1,2.