“Why do you need this?” »: Court of Appeal is skeptical about the ramp-up of ICE enforcement before the elections

A federal appeals court panel signaled Thursday that it was unlikely to let the Department of Homeland Security resume its crackdown on suspected illegal votes — a thinly veiled strategy to intimidate naturalized citizens, according to civic campaign groups.

A three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals questioned the Trump administration’s emergency request to resume its law enforcement measures, known as the Unlawful Voter Initiative. A federal judge in California blocked the initiative last week.

DHS agents in nine states have conducted street operations targeting people they believe voted or registered to vote illegally. Authorities paired the operations with a public relations campaign designed for social media, featuring armed, masked officers taking people out of their homes and handcuffing them.

“Isn’t that part of the fact that the… push has an aspect that seems to be intentional: making an effort to instill fear? ” Judge Kim Wardlaw a Clinton appointee said during Thursday’s hearing.