Southwest
Texas AG sues Biden-Harris admin for not verifying citizenship of 450K 'potentially ineligible' voters
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing the Biden-Harris administration for not providing information that the Republican says he needs to verify the citizenship of 450,000 “potentially ineligible voters.”
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and its secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas, as well as the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and its director, Ur Jaddou, are named as defendants.
DHS says states wishing to verify citizenship can use the USCIS SAVE program and that it will not provide an “alternative process to any state.”
The federal lawsuit, filed in the Western District of Texas, claims that the Biden-Harris administration has refused to comply with federal law and answer “valid requests” for information from Paxton and Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson “for the citizenship status of the over 450,000 people on Texas’s voter rolls for whom the State cannot verify their citizenship status using existing sources.”
Paxton says those over 450,000 people did not use a Texas-issued driver’s license or ID card to register to vote in the state, so “those voters never had their citizenship verified.”
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Nelson wrote to Jaddou on Sept. 18 saying the Texas Secretary of State’s office compiled a list of individuals on Texas’ voter rolls whose citizenship could not be verified and asked for assistance in doing so.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing over voter citizenship verification. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez, File)
Paxton penned a similar letter to the USCIS director on Oct. 7, stating, “Although I have no doubt the vast majority of the voters on the list are citizens who are eligible to vote, I am equally certain that Texans have no way of knowing whether or not any of the voters on the list are noncitizens who are ineligible to vote.”
In a letter to Nelson on Oct. 10, Jaddou responded, saying that the “Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program is the most secure and efficient way to reliably verify an individual’s citizenship or immigration status, including for verification regarding voter registration and/or voter list maintenance,” and maintained that USCIS “currently cannot offer an alternative process to any state.”
“Since 2009, SAVE has been used by elections authorities in states for voter registration and/or voter list maintenance. Currently, ten states are registered to use SAVE for these purposes,” he wrote. “The process has been the same since the program’s inception.”
“By inputting an individual’s name, unique DHS-issued immigration identifier, and birthdate, registered agencies can determine whether that person obtained U.S. citizenship through the naturalization process or, for certain other individuals born abroad, whether USCIS has information confirming their U.S. citizenship. Each registered agency determines the best process to obtain the required identifiers,” Jaddou explained. “The state elections authority must provide any individual who is not verified as a U.S. citizen through SAVE the opportunity to show documentation of their U.S. citizenship.”
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is named as a defendant. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
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Paxton’s lawsuit states that “pointing to the SAVE system” does not fulfill the Texas secretary of state’s request and Jaddou’s response does not satisfy USCIS’ “unambiguous obligations under federal law.”
It also says that Jaddou has not responded to Paxton’s letter.
According to Paxton, the SAVE program, designed to confirm a person’s lawful presence in the United States, “is not an adequate tool, on its own, for a state seeking to verify the citizenship status of an individual on the voter rolls.” That’s because it requires the use of a “unique DHS-issued immigration identifier,” which the lawsuit says is “information that is not maintained by, or readily available to, the Secretary of State of Texas or Texas’s voter registrars.”
Texas’s statewide voter registration system “does not contain any “DHS-issued immigration identifier[s],” the lawsuit says, so even if the Texas secretary of state “could obtain this data from the Texas Department of Public Safety, that effort would be limited to individuals who provided such information to obtain a driver license or personal identification card — and thus would not encompass individuals for whom there is no Texas-issued driver license or ID card number in Texas’s voter registration system.”
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services pointed to the SAVE program. (Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
The filing also noted that USCIS charges users a fee for each verification submitted to the SAVE system — fees that the state is willing to pay but “will more than double over the next three years.”
“Although federal and state law prohibit non-citizens from voting, federal law paradoxically creates opportunities for non-citizens to illegally register to vote while prohibiting States from requiring voters to have proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections — a common sense measure to identify illegal registration,” the suit says. “Under any circumstances, this federal prohibition against citizenship verification makes little sense, but it is especially troubling given the current scale of the illegal immigration crisis.”
The filing also cited how the Senate has not passed the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act (“SAVE Act”), “which would allow states to ensure that votes are being cast legally by eligible voters.”
Asked about Paxton’s lawsuit, a DHS spokesperson again pointed to the SAVE program.
“DHS does not comment on pending litigation,” the spokesperson said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “More broadly, USCIS has engaged with Texas and will continue to correspond with them directly through official channels. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) administers an online information service called SAVE that allows registered and authorized agencies, including election authorities in states, to verify certain individuals’ citizenship or immigration status.”
Scores of election-related lawsuits happen in every cycle, and Florida filed a similar lawsuit citing how the SAVE program’s DHS identifier requirement is a roadblock in verifying citizenship of those on the voter roll.
While Texas could see Republican Sen. Ted Cruz locked in a close race against Democratic challenger Rep. Colin Allred, the Lone Star State is unlikely to go blue in the presidential contest.
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Long Beach will hold a pride festival this weekend after the one they originally had scheduled was canceled.
Long Beach city officials said the celebration was nixed after the nonprofit that organizes it, Long Beach Pride, failed to submit the required information for an event permit.
It was supposed to start on Friday and last through Sunday.
“Despite continued collaboration and multiple deadline notices, the City did not receive the required documentation needed to complete safety reviews, inspect critical event infrastructure, such as the stage, electrical systems and tent, and emergency exiting plans to ensure compliance with public safety standards,” the city of Long Beach said in a statement. “With event programming scheduled to begin on May 15 at 5 p.m. with Teen Pride and essential information still outstanding, there is no longer sufficient time to safely permit the festival this year.”
Officials noted that they were working to see if a “shortened event” could be held this weekend, and indeed, an agreement was reached to stage a one-day gathering on Sunday.
Billed as “Canceled? Never Heard of Her!” and emceed by comedian and drag queen Jewels, it will still bring the city’s LGBTQ community together after Sunday morning’s Long Beach Pride Parade, which was not canceled.
“Long Beach Pride weekend is a culmination of celebrations put on by our community, including our many vibrant restaurants, bars and businesses, and that will never change,” Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson said in a press release issued late Saturday night. “Along with the Pride Parade, we are proud to join the party with this new event that reaffirms what this City has always stood for: that every person belongs here.”
“The festival may have been canceled, but Long Beach drag artists don’t cancel joy,” added Jewels Long Beach.
The one-day “Canceled? Never Heard of Her!” festival will take place at Bixby Park from noon to 7 p.m. Sunday. A free event, it will include music by several performers and a drag show.
More information can be found here.
Los Angeles, Ca
L.A. Jewish institution among targets of foiled terrorist attack, U.S. officials say
A Jewish institution in Los Angeles was among the locations targeted in a recently foiled terrorism plot, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton announced this week.
The thwarted terrorist attacks were the result of the recent arrest of Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, an Iraqi national and senior member of Kata’ib Hizballah, U.S. officials said.
“Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, a commander for the terrorist organization, Kata’ib Hizballah, faces serious charges for his role in numerous attacks against U.S. interests across the globe, including his efforts to kill on U.S. soil,” Clayton said. “As alleged, for years, Al-Saadi committed himself to furthering the terrorist goals of Kata’ib Hizballah and the IRGC, two terrorist organizations dedicated to harming the United States and its allies.”
Al-Saadi recently attempted to carry out attacks in the U.S., officials said, including attacks at Jewish cultural places of interest in New York, Los Angeles and Scottsdale, Ariz.
“Al-Saadi attempted to disrupt American society through intimidation and violence,” a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office reads. “… Those who engage in or support terrorism against Americans and on U.S. soil should take note: the whole of the federal government is committed to dismantling terrorist organizations and bringing their members to justice.”
In a three-month period, Al-Saadi allegedly directed 18 terrorist attacks throughout Europe, including bombings, arson, and assaults targeting American citizens and points of interest. Prior to his arrest, national security officials say he was planning similar attacks on U.S. soil. Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg said that Al-Saadi “presented a serious threat to our national security.”
The European attacks included the bombing of the Bank of New York Mellon, an American bank, in Amsterdam on March 15. On April 29, two Jewish men, one of whom was a dual U.S.-British citizen, were stabbed and seriously injured in London.
In 2020, Al-Saadi took to social media, calling for others to attack and kill Americans in retribution for the deaths of Iranian military officer Qasem Soleimani and Iraqi military commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, U.S. officials said. In more recent months, Al-Saadi allegedly used social media to encourage the killing of Americans and Jews to further the terrorist goals of Kata’ib Hizballah and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
“In or about February 2026, for example, AL-SAADI posted on one of his social media accounts a message in Arabic, which read in part, ‘Do not abandon the blood of your Imam of the time, oh Shiites of Iraq. Kill everyone who supports America and Israel. Do not leave any of them remaining. Civil and military targets, as well as voices of discord, kill them everywhere.’” U.S. officials said.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch confirmed that one of the U.S. targets was a Manhattan synagogue. On April 3, Al-Saadi allegedly spoke to an undercover law enforcement officer whom Al-Saadi believed could carry out attacks in the U.S. That same day, Al-Saadi allegedly texted the undercover officers photographs and maps showing the exact location of a prominent Jewish synagogue in New York City.
Officials have not said what specific locations in L.A. and Arizona were targeted by the terrorist group.
Al-Saadi now faces numerous charges for these crimes in U.S. court. If convicted, he could be sentenced to life in prison.
The case is under investigation by the FBI’s New York Joint Terrorism Task Force, which is comprised of investigators and analysts from the FBI, the NYPD, the FBI Washington Field Office, Counterterrorism Division, and more than 50 other federal, state, and local agencies. Investigators also received help from the Department of Justice’s National Security Division, Counterterrorism Section, the Office of International Affairs of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
A man armed with a knife was shot by L.A. police officers responding to an assault with a deadly weapon call overnight, authorities said.
According to the Los Angeles Police Department, officers with the Hollenbeck Division responded to an apartment complex in the 3000 block of Glenn Avenue in Boyle Heights at 1:45 a.m. Saturday after callers reported a male suspect was armed with a knife and had just assaulted someone in the complex.
Arriving officers found the suspect in front of the residence, but he did not comply with officers’ commands to drop the weapon. He then advanced toward the officers and an officer-involved shooting occurred, LAPD confirmed.
“The suspect was struck by gunfire and remained non-compliant,” the LAPD Public Information Officer said on X early Saturday morning. “Officers deployed a 40mm foam round and ultimately took the suspect into custody.”
Video obtained by KTLA shows the man being loaded into an ambulance and taken to a hospital; officials said he was transported in stable condition, adding that his knife was recovered at the scene and booked as evidence.
No officers or community members were injured during the incident. The man’s name was not released.
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