A federal judge has thrown out a noncitizen voting prosecution and ruled the law behind it unconstitutional, CBS News reports.
Miami-based U.S. District Judge David S. Leibowitz ruled Thursday, in a 31-page order, that the misdemeanor case against Jamaican national Chelsea Cox must be dismissed. The statute is 18 U.S.C. § 611, which bars noncitizens from voting in federal elections.
The Trump administration has been pushing hard on this front. The Guardian reports the Justice Department indicted 10 more people in Minnesota on noncitizen voting-related charges, the sixth such announcement of the month, with Attorney General Todd Blanche and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin announcing it.
Leibowitz's reasoning is blunt. Under the Constitution, he wrote, only states can set voter qualifications, not Congress. Florida prosecutors could charge Cox under state law, he said. The federal government cannot use this statute.
He also took a swing at the Justice Department's argument. Its "principal defense of the statute's constitutionality invokes a single Supreme Court case that is very, very weak," wrote the Biden-appointed judge.
So why does the Government lead with such a weak hand?
"Because it's the best hand it can play," he answered. "And why is that? Because the text, structure, and original public meaning of the Constitution show that Congress does not have the constitutional power to enact this statute."
The ruling applies only to Cox. CBS News says it appears to be the first time a court has deemed the statute unconstitutional. Leibowitz noted that until very recently no federal court had been asked whether Congress had the authority to enact it.
The ruling does not touch the separate law against making false claims of citizenship in order to vote. That is another tool the Justice Department has used in recent months.
Prosecutors accused Cox of overstaying a tourist visa more than 20 years ago and getting a Florida driver's license with a fraudulent U.S. Virgin Islands birth certificate. They alleged she voted in several federal elections starting in 2012. Her 2020 general election vote led to the October 2025 charge. Those are the government's allegations in court papers.
Most elections experts say noncitizen voting is rare. President Donald Trump has long alleged, without evidence, that it is common.
Cox's attorney, Bruce Udolf, said his client is "gratified" and that the ruling was a "huge relief to her." He said he is working with the government on next steps, including whether the administration tries to deport her.
The Justice Department moved to appeal shortly after the ruling and did not immediately respond to CBS News' request for comment. So the question of whether Congress can do this goes up the chain.