This article was originally published by Bloomberg Law
By Eric Heisig
The Trump administration’s ban on allowing nonprofit groups to register new US citizens to vote at naturalization ceremonies was preliminarily blocked Monday by a federal judge.
The plaintiffs “have made a very strong showing that they will prevail on the merits of their claim that the Ban is an unconstitutional restriction on their free speech rights,” Judge Adam B. Abelson of the US District Court of the District of Maryland wrote. He similarly ruled on claims under the Fifth Amendment and the Administrative Procedures Act for the preliminary injunction he issued.
“The Court is unconvinced that requiring the government to apply the same policy it has been applying for decades and has only recently changed would cause any significant disruption or confusion,” Abelson, an appointee of President Joe Biden, wrote as a reason not to let his ruling move forward.
The ruling is a victory for challengers of the policy waged through two lawsuits, one by the League of Women Voters entities and the other by the New Orleans chapter of the National Council of Jewish Women. It also comes as President Donald Trump and others in his administration continue to push a false narrative that voter fraud is rampant.
The lawsuits were filed after the administration in August 2025 enacted rules that only allow US Citizenship and Immigration Services field officers and state and local election officials to provide voter registration services at naturalization ceremonies. This excluded nonprofits and other groups that provided such services for years.
The administration responded by asking the judge to dismiss the lawsuits, writing in a January filing that the “modest” policy change “does not harm new citizens’ access to applications to register to vote, as applications and information will continue to be provided by state or local election officials, or USCIS staff at the end of administrative naturalization ceremonies.”
Abelson agreed that a due process claim by the National Council of Jewish Women should be tossed but left the rest of the two cases intact.
Elias Law Group LLP attorney Aria C. Branch, who represents the National Council of Jewish Women, said in a news release that the ban was issued because “the Trump administration could not tolerate that act of patriotism” of newly naturalized citizen being registered to vote.
Celina Stewart, CEO of the League of Women Voters, said in a news release that “when people become American citizens, they should be welcomed into full participation in civic life, not met with new barriers.”
The Justice Department, which represented the sued federal government agencies, didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
The League of Women Voters entities are represented by the Campaign Legal Center.
The case is League of Women Voters of the United States v. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Servs., D. Md., No. 8:25-cv-03777, 8/3/26.