USCIS Naturalization Ceremony Voter Registration Assistance Ban Challenge (LWV)

A pro-voting lawsuit challenging a new USCIS policy that bars non-governmental organizations from providing voter registration assistance during naturalization ceremonies.

Background

The League of Women Voters of the United States, along with seven state and local chapters, filed a lawsuit challenging the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ (USCIS) August 2025 policy banning non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from providing voter registration assistance during naturalization ceremonies. According to the lawsuit, USCIS’s 2011 policy required that new citizens be given the chance and assistance to register to vote at naturalization ceremonies, allowing NGOs to help when local officials could not – but on Aug. 29, USCIS abruptly ended that system. 

Plaintiffs argue that USCIS’s voter assistance ban violates the Administrative Procedure Act because the agency issued a substantive, binding rule without undergoing the required notice-and-comment process, and because the policy is arbitrary and capricious, lacking any reasoned justification. Plaintiffs further assert that the policy infringes on their First Amendment rights to free expression and association. They are asking the court to block enforcement of the ban and prevent USCIS from withholding the schedule of upcoming naturalization ceremonies from the public. 

Why It Matters

Every year, hundreds of thousands of people born outside the United States become U.S. citizens, entering the political community they worked hard to join. By 2024, one in 10 eligible voters was a naturalized citizen. Yet despite their growing presence, naturalized citizens continue to vote at lower rates than native-born Americans, not because of apathy, but because many never make it onto the voter rolls. Complex and fragmented registration systems, language barriers, and limited access to official assistance create obstacles that hinder their participation. For years, allowing nonpartisan organizations to help new citizens register at naturalization ceremonies directly addressed this gap.

Latest Updates

• Nov. 18, 2025: Plaintiffs filed their complaint.