Some on DOJ's 20,000 "likely" noncitizen list in Calif. appear to be U.S.-born

The Justice Department has flagged about 20,000 California voter registrations as belonging to people it considers likely to be noncitizens. A closer look at a sample in Los Angeles County suggests the list may include U.S. citizens, too.

The county reviewed 200 names from the list. Among the cases with usable birthplace records, 38.9% appeared to have been born in the United States. That sample is small and does not establish how many of the roughly 20,000 names are wrong, but it does raise questions about how the list was assembled.

The DOJ says the people on its list are “likely” noncitizens, a label that is not the same as a confirmed finding about any individual’s citizenship or voting eligibility. NPR reports that the department has acknowledged the possibility of errors while pressing California to take action.

That distinction matters because voter records can be wrongly flagged, and an inaccurate match could put an eligible voter through extra scrutiny or discourage them from voting. The county’s sample is an early check, not a final accounting; the next step is to verify each record carefully before any action is taken.