The nation’s oldest Latino civil rights organization, LULACis one of several Texas entities targeted in anti-voter fraud raids led by state Attorney General Ken Paxton, CBS News has learned.
In a letter obtained by CBS News, LULAC asked the Justice Department to investigate Paxton’s office for violations of the Voting Rights Act. The organization accuses Paxton’s office of conducting illegal searches motivated by voter fraud.
“These actions echo a troubling history of voter suppression and intimidation that has long targeted Black and Latino communities, particularly in states like Texas, where demographic shifts have increasingly altered the political landscape,” LULAC CEO Juan Proaño and the group’s national president, Roman Palomares, said in the letter.
The Justice Department confirmed receipt of the letter and declined to comment further.
Last week, Paxton’s office announced in a press release that it was launching undercover operations and an investigation into reports that some organizations in Texas are illegally registering noncitizens to vote, in violation of state and federal law.
LULAC officials told CBS News that some members of the group in Texas have been targeted and had their laptops and cellphones confiscated by Texas authorities who executed search warrants. Some of the raids have targeted Latino activists across the state.
“Attorney General Paxton is using his position of authority to harass and intimidate Latino nonprofits like LULAC, Latino Leaders and LULAC members,” LULAC CEO Juan Proaño told CBS News, calling the state attorney general’s efforts “point-blank” voter intimidation. “It’s clear through his lawsuits, his raids, his searches and seizures that he’s trying to prevent Latinos from voting.”
According to Proaño, one of the people targeted was Lidia Martinez, an 87-year-old woman who lives in San Antonio. Martinez has been a member of LULAC for more than 35 years and works to expand voter registration among seniors and veterans in South Texas.
She said she received a knock on her door early Tuesday morning and was met by nine armed police officers in tactical gear who said they were executing a search warrant. Martinez was questioned for more than three hours about her efforts to register to vote in Texas.
According to Martinez, law enforcement seized the man’s phone, computer, personal calendar, blank voter registration forms and his certificate to conduct voter registration.
“This is a free country, this is not Russia,” Martinez said Monday at a news conference denouncing the raid.
Manuel Medina, chairman of the Tejano Democrats, is another LULAC member who has been targeted, LULAC’s CEO said. Medina’s home was raided last Thursday by armed riot police officers in gear who broke down his door, according to LULAC officials.
Paxton’s office said in its press release that it will continue to conduct undercover operations led by its Election Integrity Unit. The Texas Attorney General’s Office said it received a referral from 81st Judicial District Attorney Audrey Louis regarding “allegations of voter fraud and vote harvesting that occurred during the 2022 election.” The statement added that a two-year investigation “provided sufficient evidence to obtain the search warrants.”
The unit was created following Trump’s resignation. 2020 Election Defeat to President Biden and aimed to investigate alleged voter fraud across the state, even though Trump administration officials have said the election was secure.
“My office investigates every credible report we receive of potential criminal activity that could compromise the integrity of our elections,” Paxton said. “The Biden-Harris administration intentionally flooded our country with illegal immigrants, and without proper safeguards, foreign nationals can illegally influence elections at the local, state, and national levels.”
Robert Legare contributed to this report.
Fin Gomez
