Folks, I almost spilled my coffee reading this one. The Department of Homeland Security is using some pretty questionable tactics to investigate non-citizen voting, according to a whistleblower report released by top Senate Democrats on Monday. I mean, who doesn’t love a good controversy to start the week? The report alleges that DHS is relying on unreliable data and using legally dubious methods to go after potential non-citizen voters. Because, you know, that’s exactly what we need – more chaos in our election system.
The whistleblower’s disclosures focused on the training materials for DHS agents working on the “Unlawful Voter Initiative.” Yeah, that sounds like a real thing. The effort is looking at voter records from all 50 states and targeting up to hundreds of thousands of individuals. Officers are being told to investigate noncitizens as well as naturalized US citizens who may have registered or voted before they were naturalized. Sounds like a real efficient use of resources, if you ask me.
After the program launched in late August, DHS agents were given just a few weeks to sift through thousands of voter records and create law enforcement files for individuals determined to have voted unlawfully. I’m no expert, but that sounds like a recipe for disaster. The whistleblower report alleges that agents are being kept in the dark about the sources of some of the data being used, and the process leads to individuals being tagged as unlawful voters even if the agent “reasonably believes that the DHS source data is not reliable enough to justify creating a TECS record.” Yeah, because that’s not confusing at all.
The flag could have implications for those individuals in their dealings with the government going forward, setting them up for increased screenings when crossing the border and more investigation by DHS. But Democrats alleged Monday that the initiative demonstrates Trump’s broader goal to sow doubt about elections. Because, you know, that’s not something he’s ever been accused of before. California Sen. Alex Padilla said at a press conference, “The truth is, this has nothing to do with protecting the integrity of our elections… It’s about the potential of using manufactured evidence to intimidate voters, to disenfranchise eligible Americans and even undermine or challenge this November’s election results, a classic Trump play.” Oh boy, here we go again.
In a statement to CNN, a DHS spokesperson described the agency’s approach as “commonplace law enforcement.” Sure, because nothing says “commonplace” like investigating hundreds of thousands of people for potential voter fraud. The spokesperson also said, “Identification and investigation of aliens who vote in our elections provides an essential guarantee in the authenticity of our election results.” Okay, got it. The Trump administration has broadly defended its efforts by saying its goal is to ensure that only people legally entitled to cast ballots do so. Sounds simple enough, right?
The training materials instructed agents to use state voter registration portals to obtain information about their targets, which could potentially be a violation of state law. When agents raised concerns that using the state portals in that way could be illegal, they were told by superiors that they were “not personally liable for conducting these searches when done as part of their official duties and properly documented.” Yeah, that’s reassuring. Padilla said, “If this effort is truly legal, then why does DHS leadership have to promise its officers that they’re not going to be held liable? That says a lot.” Good point, senator.
Officers have been given a quota to review at least 40 people per day, which is just a crazy pace. I mean, who can thoroughly investigate someone’s citizenship and voting record in just a few minutes? The whistleblower complaint argued that this pace compounds the risk that lawful voters will be investigated by mistake. On Sunday, Senate Democrats sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, demanding he cease the operation. The use of the state portals was first reported by the New York Times in early September.
The allegations come amid a new surge of voter fraud investigations at DHS, which CNN first reported two weeks ago. Because, you know, the department isn’t busy enough with actual security threats. The Trump administration has defended its efforts by saying its goal is to ensure that only people legally entitled to cast ballots do so. The accuracy flaws in the federal citizenship records that agents are using for identifying potential non-citizen voters are well known and acknowledged even in the training materials. But agents are nonetheless instructed to press on, even when key gaps in the data remain.
In conclusion, this whole ordeal is just a big mess. The Department of Homeland Security is using questionable tactics to investigate non-citizen voting, and it’s just another example of the chaos that seems to follow the Trump administration everywhere. I’m not sure what’s more surprising – the fact that DHS is using unreliable data or the fact that they’re actually admitting to it. Either way, it’s just another day in the world of politics, folks. And I’m just over here, sipping my coffee and wondering what’s next. 🙄
Armchair patriot. Believes in the free market, cold beer, and that there’s always a guy named George behind every CNN segment.
Former remote-throwing champion turned #1 couch commentator on liberal panic in the media. Born in Texas (or so his mug says), he earned a degree in Fake Newsology & Beer Philosophy from YouTube University.
