A federal judge in Virginia has stayed the state’s program to purge its voter rolls of potential non-citizensand ordered over 1,600 people to be re-registered.

Non-citizen voting has become a part of Republicans‘ shoot against what they see as a fraudulent election and criticism of election security. Governor of Virginia Glenn Youngkin moved to purge 1,600 suspected noncitizens from voter rolls, prompting a lawsuit by the U.S. Department of Justice over its efforts to remove voters less than 90 days before election day.

On Friday, U.S. District Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles sided with the department, ruling that Virginia had to re-register the people who had been removed from the voter rolls. Virginia asked that the sentence be stayed pending an appeal, but the judge refused and put the sentence into effect immediately.

Youngkin said the state would appeal, arguing officials had acted within Virginia law to prevent ineligible residents from voting, while immigrant groups welcomed the ruling as a victory for naturalized citizens.

“Every American citizen, regardless of where they were born, has the freedom to vote,” said Paul Smith, senior vice president of the Campaign Legal Center, in a press release.

“Virginia violated the law by conducting a last-minute purge targeting naturalized citizens. We are pleased that the court acted so that every Virginian can make their voice heard in this upcoming election.”

Youngkin’s directive to monitor and update Virginia’s voter rolls came on the first day of the 90-day period, which the DOJ argued was unnecessary because there were strict rules preventing noncitizens from voting in federal elections.

Youngkin insisted in a statement Friday that Judge Giles’ ruling meant that self-identified noncitizens would be allowed to vote.

“This is a Virginia law passed in 2006, signed by then-Gov Tim Kainethat provides certain procedures for removing non-citizens from the voter rolls, with safeguards in place to confirm citizenship prior to removal — and the ultimate fail-safe same-day registration for U.S. citizens to cast a provisional ballot, Younkin said in a press release.

“This law has been applied in every presidential election by Republicans and democrats since adopted 18 years ago.”

Groups that also sued the state over its actions said the residents were unfairly removed because they obtained their driver’s licenses with a green card, meaning they were not U.S. citizens at the time and had said so on documents. But they had since become one, making them eligible to vote.

“Today’s court decision confirms that newly naturalized citizens have the same rights as all other voters,” Joan Porte, president of the League of Women Voters of Virginia, said in a news release.

“Purging out newly naturalized Virginians is an attack on our democracy. We are proud that this ruling protects Virginia voters and ensures that their voices are protected and heard.”

While Virginia acknowledged that a small portion of the voters removed were U.S. citizens, they argued during a hearing Thursday that most of the 1,600 people affected were not eligible to vote.

Charles Cooper, one of Virginia’s attorneys, said that if the court ruled in favor of the DOJ, hundreds of non-citizens were likely to vote on November 5th.

“If a non-citizen votes, it interrupts a legal vote. And that’s an injury,” he told the court on Thursday.

Judge Giles’ order includes a requirement that letters be sent to everyone affected, but it will include a line telling non-citizens they are barred from voting anyway.

Younkin has vowed to fight the ruling, with just 11 days until Election Day, with the former president Donald Trump supported him in a post on X, earlier Chirp.

“This is a totally unacceptable travesty, and Governor Youngkin has every right to appeal this ILLEGAL ORDER, and the U.S. Supreme Court will hopefully fix it!” Trump wrote, adding that only US citizens should be allowed to vote.