DHS Voter Hunt May Have Broken State Laws

Homeland Security officers may have broken state laws while hunting for noncitizens on voter rolls, a federal whistleblower alleges in a report released Monday by top Senate Democrats.

The whistleblower describes a DHS program called the "Unlawful Voter Initiative," in which hundreds of federal personnel — including U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services staff — were surged into searches of state voter databases using private information about individual voters.

The account says the operation is "knowingly sweeping known U.S. citizens in as potentially unlawful voters."

What the Whistleblower Alleges

Agents were required to complete 40 voter reviews per eight-hour shift, leaving roughly 12 minutes per person.

To query state databases, personnel used personal data including partial Social Security numbers. Virginia's and Florida's systems require a user to confirm they are the voter or an authorized representative before searching — a step the whistleblower says federal workers were instructed to get around.

The data driving the initiative included identification numbers assigned to noncitizens that can stay attached to a person in federal records even after they naturalize — which is how, the whistleblower says, citizens end up flagged.

DHS told agents they would not be personally liable for searches that were properly documented.