The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) is calling for a federal investigation into Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s inquiries into suspected illegal voter registration. This follows a series of law enforcement raids over the past week that have targeted Latino activists.

During a news conference held in San Antonio on Monday, advocates and leaders from the oldest and largest Latino civil rights organization expressed their opposition to the raids conducted by Paxton’s Election Integrity Unit. They described these actions as invasions of privacy, infringements on civil rights, and attempts at suppressing voter participation.

“It is apparent from his (Paxton’s) pattern of legal actions, raids, and searches that he is attempting to prevent Latinos from voting,” stated Roman Palomares, LULAC’s national president. “LULAC will take a stand against targeting, bullying, or intimidating our members.”

On Friday, Gabriel Rosales, the Texas director of LULAC, shared that several members of the organization had had search warrants executed at their homes in South Texas. This led the group to pursue federal help in response to what they consider a violation of civil rights.

LULAC is set to submit a request for an investigation into the voter registration probe to Kristen Clarke, the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Justice, as confirmed by the group’s leaders on Monday.

“We will persist in our efforts regardless of what this attorney general believes he can do,” Rosales remarked. “We haven’t broken any laws; we only aimed to enhance the political engagement of the Latino community.”

According to a Justice Department spokesperson, the agency is aware of the situation but has declined to elaborate.

In a statement made last week, Paxton emphasized the execution of multiple search warrants in Frio, Atascosa, and Bexar counties related to ongoing investigations into alleged voter fraud and vote harvesting during the 2022 elections. However, he has not made any public evidence available supporting claims of voter fraud in that election.

Paxton also discussed initiating “undercover operations” in major Texas cities to find and thwart suspected illegal voter registration efforts, accusing nonprofit organizations of conducting registration drives near Texas Department of Public Safety driver’s license offices.

Paxton, who is committed to investigating “every credible allegation” relating to election-related crimes, contended that voters already have the opportunity to register when renewing or obtaining a driver’s license with the DPS, implying that there is no essential need for nonprofit organizations to assist with registration outside DPS locations.

Lidia Martinez, an 87-year-old retired teacher from San Antonio, was among those raided. She recounted opening her door at 6 a.m. on August 20 to find nine law enforcement officers from the attorney general’s office seeking information about her voter registration efforts.

Having just returned from the hospital due to a respiratory condition, Martinez was startled by the officers’ sudden arrival and noted they wouldn’t allow her to change out of her nightgown while they searched her home for hours.

“’What do you want from me? I’m just an old woman,’” Martinez shared, recalling her conversation with one of the officers. “I asked them, ‘I help the seniors and veterans. What do you want from me?’”

During the raid of her residence, Martinez stated that she was forced to surrender her laptop, calendar, mobile phone, and documentation related to her voter registration efforts.

“I have no idea when my doctor appointments are. They took my phone and all the information I had,” said Martinez, expressing uncertainty about the return of her belongings.

The office of Attorney General Paxton has not replied to inquiries from the American-Statesman regarding LULAC’s reactions to his office’s investigations into alleged voter fraud. Additionally, no new details have been shared regarding the search warrants issued to Martinez; Cecilia Castellano, the Democratic candidate for state House District 80, whose home was also searched last week; or other individuals affected by law enforcement actions.

“The insufficient information in the warrant regarding the justification and the phone they were after made me question their intentions,” Castellano stated on Monday. “As I stood there with my family, I couldn’t shake the feeling of unfairness.”

Governor Greg Abbott acknowledged the ongoing efforts to clean up the state’s voter rolls on Monday, noting that over 1 million names have been removed since 2021, including more than 6,500 identified as “possible noncitizens,” of which about 1,930 had a history of voting.

“I have enacted the toughest election laws in the country to safeguard the voting rights and combat illegal voting,” Abbott remarked, praising legislation implemented last year that elevated illegal voting to a second-degree felony. “These reforms have resulted in over a million ineligible individuals being removed from our voter rolls over the past three years, including noncitizens, deceased voters, and those who have relocated to other states.”

This is not the first encounter between state officials and LULAC concerning voter registrations; previously, a disagreement with the secretary of state’s office over voter roll management resulted in a settlement and a congressional inquiry.

Under the 2019 settlement, the secretary of state’s office, responsible for overseeing elections in Texas, modified its procedures for maintaining voter rolls to avoid inadvertently removing naturalized citizens.

The resolution attracted the attention of congressional lawmakers, prompting the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Reform to initiate an investigation, to which Paxton’s office refused to cooperate.

Apart from federal efforts, Senators Roland Gutierrez and José Menéndez, both Democrats from San Antonio, announced during a press conference on Monday that they would soon write a letter to Lt. Governor Dan Patrick requesting a Senate investigation into the probes being initiated by Paxton’s office.

A poignant critic of Paxton, Gutierrez rebuked the attorney general on Monday for a recent 18-month pretrial intervention pact that concluded a nine-year securities fraud case against Paxton, alongside Paxton’s earlier attempt to dodge a subpoena.

“The ultimate consequence of this — as we’ve seen time and again from this corrupt Ken Paxton — is merely voter suppression and intimidation,” Gutierrez remarked. “When law enforcement came to his office several times and knocked on his door, no one held a weapon to him, yet he is wielding intimidation against our grandmothers.”