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# Trump's DOJ referred 3 Arizona voter groups to the FBI.
- URL: https://www.workersrights.news/doj-fbi-arizona-voter-registration-groups-worker-power/
- Published: 2026-11-01T15:19:47.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-01T15:19:47.000Z
- Description: One is Worker Power, whose canvassers are cooks, housekeepers and airport workers. The probe rests on unnamed "video reports."
- Author: WorkersRights.News Team
- Tags: Politics

Trump's Justice Department has asked the FBI to investigate three Arizona groups that sign up voters, including Worker Power, an organization built around hotel, airport and food service workers. The letters behind the probe name no voter, no registration form and no video.

U.S. Attorney Timothy Courchaine of the District of Arizona [announced on Oct. 30](https://www.justice.gov/usao-az/pr/district-arizona-responds-allegations-non-citizen-voter-registration?ref=workersrights.news) that his office had opened a case into "recent reporting" that the groups registered noncitizens, and that it had referred the matter to the FBI. The three groups are Stand Indivisible Arizona, Worker Power and When We Count. The announcement came four days before the Nov. 3 midterms.

## What the letters say

On Oct. 26, Courchaine wrote to [Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes](https://www.justice.gov/usao-az/media/1469691/dl?inline&ref=workersrights.news) and [Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap](https://www.justice.gov/usao-az/media/1469686/dl?inline&ref=workersrights.news). "Based on written and video reports," he wrote, people acting for the groups "either intentionally disregarded or were recklessly ignorant" of Arizona's ban on registering noncitizens.

"Based on a cursory review," the letter continues, the groups and their volunteers or employees "may have violated" [A.R.S. § 16-182](https://www.azleg.gov/ars/16/00182.htm?ref=workersrights.news). That state law makes it a class 6 felony, Arizona's lowest felony grade, to knowingly cause someone to be registered who isn't entitled to vote. Courchaine asked Fontes for "a review of registrations submitted by these groups."

The one-page letter doesn't say what the "written and video reports" are, who made them, or how many registrations are in question. The office's announcement doesn't either. No one has been charged. [Democracy Docket reported](https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/u-s-attorney-accuses-3-arizona-nonprofits-of-knowingly-registering-noncitizens-to-vote/?ref=workersrights.news) that the inquiry grew out of reports circulating on social media, and that the three groups hadn't responded to its requests for comment.

**Claim check:** Courchaine's letter says the groups' workers "intentionally disregarded or were recklessly ignorant" of the law. That is unsupported so far. The letter offers no evidence beyond unnamed reports and a "cursory review," and it identifies no noncitizen who was registered.

## Who the groups are

Worker Power describes itself as a ["worker-led, multi-racial and multi-generational economic justice organization"](https://www.idealist.org/en/nonprofit/25310b631f2649838ea8bc47980959bb-worker-power-phoenix?ref=workersrights.news) that works to improve life for Arizona's working families through voter outreach. In 2024 it ran [a canvass with UNITE HERE Local 11](https://www.unitehere11.org/?p=9287&ref=workersrights.news), the hotel and food service workers' union, that grew to more than 500 canvassers. Susan Minato, co-president of Local 11 and chair of Worker Power's board, described them as "hundreds of cooks, dishwashers, housekeepers, airport and food service workers."

Stand Indivisible Arizona is a volunteer-run nonprofit based in Scottsdale, and [Arizona's Family reported](https://www.azfamily.com/2026/10/31/are-these-arizona-groups-registering-non-citizens-vote-feds-investigating/?ref=workersrights.news) that When We Count is the one group of the three tied to a political party, the Democrats.

## A pattern of shaky lists

The Arizona letters land in a week when courts have pushed back on the administration's noncitizen-voting claims. On Oct. 30, U.S. District Judge Trina Thompson [barred the Justice Department](https://www.workersrights.news/judge-thompson-bars-doj-threats-election-workers/) from threatening election officials into halting the count of ballots it says came from noncitizens. [The department appealed on Oct. 31](https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/judge-orders-doj-to-stop-threatening-election-officials/?ref=workersrights.news).

Also on Oct. 31, at a hearing over the department's noncitizen lists in California and Washington, Justice Department attorney Elizabeth Shapiro told U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, "I cannot disagree with you that the government has made mistakes," [according to Democracy Docket](https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/federal-judge-questions-doj-voter-purge-targeting-minorities-right-before-election/?ref=workersrights.news). An analysis of the California list found [8,880 of the 20,930 people on it weren't even registered](https://www.workersrights.news/doj-california-noncitizen-voter-list-42-percent-not-on-rolls-ucla/). The department's demands for state voter data have [lost in court again and again](https://www.workersrights.news/judge-tosses-doj-suit-utah-voter-data/).

The same day, DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin claimed his department is looking into 300,000 cases of possible noncitizen voting. [Democracy Docket reported](https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/dhs-secretary-mullin-claims-300000-noncitizens-under-investigation-for-illegally-voting/?ref=workersrights.news) that he offered no evidence for the number.

Democracy Docket also reported that internal documents obtained by Democracy Forward through a public records request show ICE investigated hundreds of voter registration groups nationwide, including at least one in Arizona.

## What comes next

Election Day is Tuesday. Fontes and Heap now decide what their review of the groups' registrations finds, and the FBI decides whether to pursue the referral. We condemn the Justice Department's decision to refer voter registration workers to the FBI days before an election, on the strength of reports it won't identify.

If you registered through any group this year, you can [confirm your registration before Nov. 3](https://www.workersrights.news/check-voter-registration-before-nov-3/). If someone challenges you at the polls, [here's what to do](https://www.workersrights.news/what-to-do-if-challenged-or-intimidated-at-the-polls/).

### Sources

- U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Arizona, "[District of Arizona responds to allegations of non-citizen voter registration](https://www.justice.gov/usao-az/pr/district-arizona-responds-allegations-non-citizen-voter-registration?ref=workersrights.news)," Oct. 30, 2026
- U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Arizona, "[Letter from U.S. Attorney Timothy Courchaine to Secretary of State Adrian Fontes](https://www.justice.gov/usao-az/media/1469691/dl?inline&ref=workersrights.news)," Oct. 26, 2026
- U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Arizona, "[Letter from U.S. Attorney Timothy Courchaine to Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap](https://www.justice.gov/usao-az/media/1469686/dl?inline&ref=workersrights.news)," Oct. 26, 2026
- Arizona Legislature, "[A.R.S. § 16-182: False registration](https://www.azleg.gov/ars/16/00182.htm?ref=workersrights.news)," current
- Democracy Docket, "[U.S. attorney accuses 3 Arizona nonprofits of 'knowingly' registering noncitizens to vote](https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/u-s-attorney-accuses-3-arizona-nonprofits-of-knowingly-registering-noncitizens-to-vote/?ref=workersrights.news)," Oct. 31, 2026
- Arizona's Family (KTVK/KPHO), "[Are these Arizona groups registering noncitizens to vote? Feds investigating](https://www.azfamily.com/2026/10/31/are-these-arizona-groups-registering-non-citizens-vote-feds-investigating/?ref=workersrights.news)," Oct. 31, 2026
- Idealist, "[Worker Power Phoenix](https://www.idealist.org/en/nonprofit/25310b631f2649838ea8bc47980959bb-worker-power-phoenix?ref=workersrights.news)," accessed Nov. 1, 2026
- UNITE HERE Local 11, "[UNITE HERE Local 11 and Worker Power Lead Arizona's Largest Voter Canvass for Harris](https://www.unitehere11.org/?p=9287&ref=workersrights.news)," Nov. 5, 2024
- Democracy Docket, "[Judge orders DOJ to stop threatening election officials](https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/judge-orders-doj-to-stop-threatening-election-officials/?ref=workersrights.news)," Oct. 31, 2026
- Democracy Docket, "[Federal judge questions DOJ voter 'purge' targeting minorities right before election](https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/federal-judge-questions-doj-voter-purge-targeting-minorities-right-before-election/?ref=workersrights.news)," Oct. 31, 2026
- Democracy Docket, "[DHS Secretary Mullin claims 300,000 noncitizens under investigation for illegally voting](https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/dhs-secretary-mullin-claims-300000-noncitizens-under-investigation-for-illegally-voting/?ref=workersrights.news)," Oct. 31, 2026