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With the midterm elections less than two weeks away, a new legal battle is raising questions about the federal government's role in policing who is eligible to vote. A federal judge in California has blocked a Department of Homeland Security effort to identify noncitizens on voter rolls. White House correspondent Liz Landers reports.

A federal judge restricted DHS investigations into suspected noncitizen voting in nine states, citing concerns that the agency's tactics could intimidate eligible voters. Why it matters: With the midterms less than two weeks away, the ruling curtails a central part of the Trump administration's efforts to investigate suspected noncitizen voting. Driving the news: The ruling blocks election-related field operations and interviews under the government's Unlawful Voter Initiative that involve or are likely to involve U.S. citizens. California-based District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín also blocked the administration from conducting operations against likely citizens in those states relying on records generated by its voter-matching policy. Zoom in: Martínez-Olguín wrote in her Wednesday order that the groups that sued provided "substantial evidence" that the government's "intimidating conduct" was "directly interfering with their members' right to encourage voters to participate in the 2026 midterm elections." Her order stated that DHS had compiled a "target list" of individuals from a variety of sources, including state voter rolls and commercial data. But Martínez-Olguín cast doubt on the accuracy of the administration's data, warning of "a high likelihood of error in review because there is no federal database containing citizenship status of U.S. residents." Court filings indicated that officers were ordered to prioritize probes in California, Connecticut, Georgia, Missouri, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, Washington and Wisconsin. Catch up quick: Democratic Sens. Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) and Alex Padilla (Calif.) released a whistleblower report last month alleging that officials had diverted fraud and national security personnel to the Unlawful Voter Initiative using "highly questionable data" and methods. The whistleblower disclosure alleged officers were directed to access sensitive voter information in violation of state laws under minimal training and significant pressure. The other side: "DHS is laser focused on identifying, prosecuting, and removing aliens who vote and dilute the votes of U.S. citizens," a spokesperson told Axios in a statement, adding that the department has "no plans to question or investigate people we believe to be U.S. citizens." Responding to the nonprofits and local government entities that sued, the administration argued in court that DHS " reasonably decided to make use of the best data it had available to it to perform its law enforcement role, notwithstanding that the information may not be perfect in all cases." They also continued that the allegations of voter intimidation were too vague. The White House referred Axios to DHS for comment. Zoom out: Courts have repeatedly blocked the Trump administration's attempts to obtain state voter data , but the administration has pursued suspected noncitizen voting — which is rare — through other means. Last week, the administration sued California and election officials over claims that suspected ineligible voters received mail-in ballots for the election, asking a court to delay about 20,000 voters from having their ballots counted. But as Axios' Brittany Gibson notes , administration-created lists of potential noncitizens on voter rolls have been found less than accurate before, including in Nevada . What we're watching: The administration faces continuing legal challenges to its election-related initiatives ahead of the Nov. 3 midterms. On Tuesday, Democratic groups sued the government , accusing it of using unfounded fraud claims as a cudgel to insert itself in administering elections. Go deeper: Trump's October barrage

The judge found the department's field operations to identify noncitizens who voted likely violated the Voting Rights Act, which bars voter intimidation.

The Department of Homeland Security can't continue its door-knocking and "field interviews" asking about immigration status and if they will vote.

Federal agents have knocked on doors in some states to check on citizenship and voter status as midterms approach, raising concerns over voter suppression by the Trump administration. Nicole Sganga reports.

The ruling largely blocked homeland security agents from carrying out field interviews in nine states, including California, as part of a sprawling effort to find noncitizens registered to vote.

Democratic groups sued the Trump administration Tuesday, accusing it of using unfounded voter fraud claims to muscle its way into how states run elections. Why it matters: The groups say the administration is issuing a stream of threats to intimidate and bully both voters and election officials. They're asking a judge to declare the administration's actions unlawful and block further interference. Driving the news: The lawsuit condemns the administration for targeting state voter rolls by insisting that local officials review federally compiled lists of alleged noncitizens on their voter rolls. The suit also alleges that the administration is improperly demanding that states deny ballots to registered voters based on those federal lists. The Democrat-aligned groups also claim the administration has attempted to intimidate state and local officials by threatening them with jail time or prosecution. Case in point: The lawsuit cites a Department of Homeland Security claim that Nevada had nearly 16,000 noncitizens on its voter rolls. The department later claimed that it had confirmed 185 of those people were noncitizens. State records later indicated that all 185 were citizens. The DOJ also demanded that California deny ballots to more than 20,000 people based on a federal list that flagged them as suspected ineligible voters, the lawsuit says. A preliminary investigation by Los Angeles County investigators found that more than 25% of those flagged listed a U.S. birthplace, and others already had their voter registrations canceled. What they're saying: "Department of Justice and DHS officials have sought to bolster their interference efforts through a persistent stream of threats and intimidation directed towards state and local election officials across the country," the groups' attorneys wrote. "Defendants' coercive threats of legal retaliation against state officials, including even potential imprisonment, for simply following state law and aiding registered voters in casting their ballots objectively intimidate voters and election officials alike, in violation of Section 11(b) of the Voting Rights Act." The suit, brought by Democratic organizations including the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Democratic leaders and a voter, names Trump, the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security, and their respective heads as defendants. The other side: "The Justice Department enforces federal election law, and election integrity is a top priority," a DOJ spokesperson told Axios in an emailed statement "Every action the Department has taken to protect the integrity of this year's elections is grounded in the law and being litigated in open court. Ensuring that only eligible citizens vote and that every lawful ballot is counted is a requirement of federal law." "We notified California that noncitizens are likely registered to vote, and we asked the state to independently verify the citizenship of any ballots cast by people on a list that we provided. It refused to do so. Federal law doesn't permit this willful blindness." The White House and DHS did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment. Zoom out: The suit also argues that the president has no constitutional authority to decide who gets to vote or dictate how states count ballots. Investigations and audits have found no evidence of widespread voter fraud. Research shows noncitizen voting is rare, and there's no evidence it occurs on a scale that could swing elections. Go deeper: Trump sues California to prevent counting 20,000 voters' ballots

Armed and in uniform, agents from the Department of Homeland Security have been knocking on doors to ask residents about their immigration status whether they're registered to vote.