Judge Blocks the Citizenship Agency’s Ban on Voter Registration Drives at Naturalization Ceremonies, Finding Discriminatory Intent Was Likely

U.S. District Judge Adam Abelson on Aug. 3, 2026, temporarily blocked a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services policy that barred the League of Women Voters and other nonpartisan groups from registering new citizens to vote at naturalization ceremonies held in the agency’s own offices. USCIS announced the restriction in August 2025, limiting registration at its facilities to state and local election officials and citing the “administrative burden” of verifying that outside groups were nonpartisan. The League and the Greater New Orleans chapter of the National Council of Jewish Women sued in November 2025. The League said the ban forced it to cancel 166 planned events at which it had expected to register roughly 10,000 new voters.

Abelson found the plaintiffs had made a strong showing that the ban unconstitutionally restricts their speech under the First Amendment, and separately that discriminatory intent was likely a motivating factor, which would implicate Fifth Amendment equal protection principles. He pointed to federal officials’ recent statements about immigration and to the agency’s decision to replace the term “naturalization candidate” with “alien” in its materials. The ruling does not reach ceremonies held at federal courthouses, which the policy never covered.

The order is preliminary and the case continues; the government may appeal. A USCIS spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.