CA groups sue Homeland Security over alleged attacks on naturalized citizens' right to vote

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A coalition of immigrant and voting rights groups filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, claiming the department is attacking naturalized citizens' right to vote ahead of the November midterm elections.

The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA) and a naturalized citizen who is also a registered voter announced the lawsuit during a press conference Wednesday.

The lawsuit challenges specific claims that have been made by the White House that more than 278,000 non-citizens are registered to vote nationwide. That includes 190,000 in California.

The plaintiff and their lawyers allege that the Trump administration has engaged in voter intimidation and they believe every U.S. citizen, naturalized or not, deserves an equal voice in the nation's democracy.

One of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit is Pedro Trujillo, who was undocumented for 20 years but became a U.S. citizen afer qualifying for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). He says he earned his rights and wants to continue voting in U.S. elections.

"If we allow this administration to carry on with these efforts, we must ask ourselves when will it end? Which group of people will they target next? Which votes count and which get cut from the voter roles?," Trujillo said. "I say no to 'second-class citizens.' I say no second-class votes. Every citizen deserves an equal voice in our democracy."

Democratic California gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra, who is co-counsel on the lawsuit, was also in attendance at the press conference.

"What the Trump administration is telling us is that they believe that they can intimidate U.S. citizen voters, and more specifically they can intimidate them because they are naturalized U.S. citizens," Becerra said.

The lawsuit challenges specific claims that have been made by the White House that more than 278,000 non-citizens are registered to vote nationwide. That includes 190,000 in California.