In California Nurses v. Mullin, the Government Says HSI Chose to Surge Voter-Fraud Investigations After USCIS Leads

In its opposition to the plaintiffs’ motion for an APA stay and preliminary injunction, filed 09/28/26 in California Nurses Association v. Mullin (N.D. Cal.), the government describes HSI’s voter-fraud initiative in its own words. The brief says HSI made the operational decision to surge resources to these investigations in response to an influx of investigative leads from USCIS. It cites an August 31, 2026 weekly update that announced a coordinated Criminal Voter Fraud surge beginning September 1, 2026, to pursue investigative leads, conduct field interviews and support prosecutorial review. The brief lists the assigned states as Washington, Wisconsin, Missouri, Georgia, California and Pennsylvania, and adds that public reporting indicates Nevada, New York and Connecticut are included as well. It also says neither the update nor any other HSI guidance requires agents to interview all potential noncitizen voters.

This is the government’s account of its own program, written in a litigation brief; the court has made no finding on any of it. The motion it opposes is the plaintiffs’ request for a stay and preliminary injunction. The docket entry signed October 6, 2026 sets the hearing on that motion for October 19, 2026, at 11am; the cover of the brief lists a different hearing date, and the later order is the one that sets the hearing.

The surge itself is recorded at 2026-09-01–dhs-hsi-voter-fraud-surge-nine-states-midterms; the production of HSI’s weekly reports is at 2026-10-07–democracy-forward-releases-ice-hsi-voter-fraud-weekly-reports-foia.