President Donald Trump’s administration is mounting another push against Orange County on the heels of federal deportation sweeps that have rocked the local Latino community. 

[Read: Immigration Sweeps Hit a Santa Ana Neighborhood on Father’s Day] 

Now, federal prosecutors are eying voting records – looking for alleged noncitizen voters. 

Orange County’s top elections official is getting sued by the U.S. Department of Justice for refusing to release unredacted voting records and registration of alleged non-citizen voters, with prosecutors claiming that noncitizen immigrants are receiving mail-in ballots. 

“Voting by non-citizens is a federal crime, and states and counties that refuse to disclose all requested voter information are in violation of well-established federal elections laws” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division in a statement. 

“The Department of Justice will hold jurisdictions that refuse to comply with federal voting laws accountable.”

Bob Page, Orange County’s registrar of voters, declined to comment on Wednesday morning. 

In letters between prosecutors and county lawyers, deputy county counsel James Steinmann argued the registrar could only release the noncitizen’s names, dates of birth and home addresses under state and federal laws. 

“If the Department of Justice can provide legal authority that requires the Registrar of Voters to produce the sensitive information redacted here without a subpoena and without any protection from public disclosure, we would certainly be open to further consideration of the matter,” Steinmann wrote in a June 20 letter, which was also signed by county counsel Leon Page. 

The lawsuit comes after the federal presence has greatly increased since June 9, when waves of immigration sweeps began, eventually seeing immigration officials enter local neighborhoods. At one point, the National Guard was deployed in Santa Ana.

[Read: Orange County Grapples With Federal Occupation]

OC Supervisor Don Wagner said Page should’ve released all the records the Department of Justice asked for, saying Page’s resistance was “potentially thwarting an effort by the federal government to clean up those rolls.” 

“I believe that we should have produced unredacted records to allow the DOJ to determine pursuant to the Help America Vote Act if these individuals have a right to vote under federal law,” Wagner said in a Wednesday statement. 

“I think it should be up to any registrant who objects to disclosure to file for injunctive relief. It is not up to the county, which is only the middleman here, to fight the federal government on this issue. It isn’t our fight,” he said. 

Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento called the lawsuit a “unnecessary intimidation tactic by the federal government, aimed at bullying our County Registrar,” in a Wednesday statement. 

“I fully support Registrar Page and his consistent commitment to fair, secure elections,” Sarmiento wrote. “The Registrar has reasonably offered to work with the Department of Justice but instead they chose the costly path of litigation.”

Supervisor Janet Nguyen said she wants a full investigation of the issue. 

“We will be interested to see what the Department of Justice turns up. I’d like to see constituent concerns investigated, and if there is evidence of voter fraud, that it will be resolved,” Nguyen said. 

No other Orange County Supervisor returned calls seeking comment on Wednesday.

In their lawsuit, federal prosecutors claim they recently received a tip that mail-in ballots aren’t going to the right people. 

“The Attorney General recently received a complaint from the family member of a non-citizen in Orange County indicating that the non-citizen received an unsolicited mail-in ballot from the Defendant, despite lack of citizenship,” prosecutors wrote. 

Michael Gates, the former city attorney for Huntington Beach, is one of the prosecutors listed on the federal filing. Gates represented the city in a host of lawsuits against Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration during his time at the city. 

[Read: Huntington Beach City Attorney Heads to Trump Administration]

On June 2, they asked for records of any voter registrations canceled due to someone not satisfying citizenship requirements along with their voting history over the past five years. 

While Page answered the request, the registrar redacted most of the information, including their driver’s licenses, social security numbers and signatures, according to prosecutors. 

Prosecutors again asked for the information, but say they were denied on Monday, claiming the county cited state laws that limited the amount they have to disclose. 

“On June 23, 2025 the Defendant through Assistant County Attorney James Steinmann confirmed by telephone, that the Defendant would not be providing the requested unredacted records,” prosecutors wrote. 

Wagner also noted supervisors were not consulted on the decision before Page replied to federal prosecutors. 

The case comes amid an uptick in visible deportation raids upending families across Orange County including the recent detainment of Narcisco Barranco, a 48-year-old landscaper who was taken by federal immigration agents after they punched him in the head while he was laying face down in the middle of a Santa Ana street.

In response to the raids, some cities like Anaheim, Santa Ana and Fullerton have been posting resources and Know Your Rights guides on their websites to aid people impacted by the immigration sweeps.

There were daily protests against the immigration sweeps in Downtown Santa Ana, which saw the National Guard deployed in front of the Ronald Reagan Federal Courthouse and the federal building that houses ICE offices. As of Tuesday afternoon, the Guardsmen weren’t in front of the federal courthouse. 

Last night in Orange, some elected officials balked at the idea of listing resources for immigrants on the city’s website.

[Read: Division Over ICE Raids Flares up in Orange]

The lawsuit also comes after a measure to allow non-citizen voting in Santa Ana failed at the ballot box last November with 60% of voters – roughly 44,000 people – voting against the measure.

Meanwhile in Huntington Beach, voters last year approved a measure requiring people to show identification to cast a ballot in an election. State officials have sued the city over the law and it is currently tied up in litigation. 

[Read: OC Judge Greenlights Huntington Beach Voter ID Rules for Local Elections]

Noah Biesiada is a Voice of OC reporter. Contact him at nbiesiada@voiceofoc.org.