Campaign Legal Center, League of Women Voters Sue USCIS, DHS and Other Federal Officials Over Voter Registration Ban at Administrative Naturalization Ceremonies

Date
Case
Defending Civic Engagement Groups Against Restrictions on Voter Registration at Naturalization Ceremonies (League of Women Voters of the United States et al. v. United States Citizenship and Immigration Services et al.)
Issues
Voting and Elections

Washington, D.C. — Today, the League of Women Voters (LWV) and five state and local Leagues (the League) filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and other federal officials for enacting — abruptly and without following required process — a new rule that bars nonpartisan civic engagement groups from providing voter registration and promoting civic engagement to new U.S. citizens at administrative naturalization ceremonies. The League is represented by Campaign Legal Center (CLC).

The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan, grassroots, membership-based civic engagement group that has long exercised its constitutionally protected right to engage new Americans in registering to vote at administrative naturalization ceremonies. This joyful event is a core part of the League’s mission to empower voters and defend democracy. But a new USCIS rule announced in August 2025 reversed prior policy and now allows only government officials to provide voter registration to new citizens after certain naturalization ceremonies.

The League is suing USCIS, DHS and other federal officials for violating the First Amendment rights of the national League of Women Voters and state and local Leagues to engage in political speech and activities, and also for failing to adhere to provisions in the Administrative Procedure Act that require federal agencies to follow clearly defined and transparent procedures when adopting new policies, in order to avoid harming Americans.

“Purposely excluding groups like the League from administrative naturalization ceremonies is a deliberate move by this administration to deny new citizens access to the democratic process and attack the League’s very mission to register and support new voters,” said Celina Stewart, CEO of the League of Women Voters of the United States. “For decades, the League has been a fixture at naturalization ceremonies across the country, helping new Americans register to vote on the first day of their citizenship. Blocking our work with a sudden rule change is a direct attempt to prevent new voter registrations and blocks us from doing our critical work to provide new Americans the guidance and support they need to fully participate in civic life. The League will not be silenced.”

To read quotes from the individual state and local League plaintiffs, click here.

“Our democracy is strongest when every voter can participate easily and without barriers. Nonpartisan civic engagement groups like the League of Women Voters fill a critical public need by helping newly naturalized citizens access and exercise their freedom to vote,” said Alexandra Copper, legal counsel for strategic litigation at Campaign Legal Center. “The federal government’s attempts to limit these groups’ efforts are a direct attack on the constitutionally guaranteed right to participate in our political process. Civic-minded organizations and their members and volunteers who help Americans register to vote should not be targeted and punished, but instead should be supported and celebrated.”

The League of Women Voters has, over the course of decades, registered hundreds of thousands of new U.S. citizens to vote after naturalization ceremonies nationwide. As a result of USCIS’s rule change, however, state and local Leagues have already been forced to cancel at least 166 planned voter registration events, where League members and volunteers expected to register approximately 10,000 new voters.

Campaign Legal Center has litigated to protect the work of nonpartisan civic engagement groups in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Missouri and Montana, and it is ready to defend the right of the League of Women Voters to assist new citizens in registering to vote.

Follow the latest updates on this lawsuit via CLC’s case page or the League’s legal center.

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The nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center advances democracy through law. We safeguard the freedom to vote, defend voters’ right to know who is spending money to influence elections, and work to ensure public trust in our elected officials.

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