A federal judge on Friday temporarily barred the Trump administration from threatening election workers with criminal prosecution over ballots tied to suspected noncitizens.

U.S. District Judge Trina Thompson found that the Justice Department and Department of Homeland Security likely violated the Voting Rights Act's prohibition against voter intimidation by threatening election workers with prosecution for processing ballots from voters the administration claims are ineligible, just days before the midterm elections.

"One of the hallmarks of a fair election is the freedom to exercise the right to vote free from threat, fear, or intimidation," Thompson, a Biden-appointed judge, wrote in the eight-page order.

The ruling comes as the Trump administration has sought voter registration information from states ahead of the Nov. 3 elections, arguing that its efforts are aimed at preventing noncitizen voting and protecting election integrity.

BIDEN-APPOINTED JUDGE BLOCKS VOTER-FRAUD PROBES IN BATTLEGROUND STATES JUST DAYS BEFORE MIDTERMS

The temporary restraining order prohibits federal officials from threatening, intimidating or coercing state and local election workers into halting ballot processing solely because the administration alleges certain registered voters are ineligible.

The order also bars the administration from demanding that election officials remove registered voters from voter rolls, refuse to issue them ballots or segregate or decline to count their ballots based solely on those allegations.

The lawsuit was brought by labor unions and civil rights organizations, including the Service Employees International Union and the NAACP.

"Because the public has a paramount interest in ensuring that election officials and workers are able to carry out their work in accordance with federal law and election procedure, and the official day of the Elections is only a couple of days away, the balance of the equities and public interest weigh in Plaintiffs' favor," Thompson wrote.

"Ballots have already been issued," Thompson also noted. "Americans have already begun voting."

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Thompson also ordered the administration to notify state and local governments that received the disputed letters that the demands and threats of prosecution contained in them have been blocked.

Earlier Friday, a federal appeals court separately ruled against the Trump administration's emergency request to require California to set aside mail-in ballots associated with roughly 20,000 voters federal officials identified as likely noncitizens while their citizenship status was verified.

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied the Justice Department's request to set aside the disputed mail-in ballots while officials reviewed the voters' citizenship status, handing the administration another setback just four days before Election Day.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Justice Department for comment.

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Fox News Digital's Jasmine Baehr and Reuters contributed to this report.

"The View" co-hosts agreed with former Vice President Kamala Harris Friday that impeachment would not be a good use of the Democratic Party’s time and resources if the party wins back control of Congress in the midterm elections.

"I think that going on in the direction of impeachment is not a good idea," Harris warned Tuesday on "The Parnas Perspective" podcast. "OK, just to be honest with you. Because we have limited resources, and I think the energy and the resources need to be put into accountability, need to be put into investigations. And that's where the time should be spent. Remember, I was in the Senate for the last go-round and the votes aren't there, right? So, that's how I feel."

After playing a clip of Harris' comments, "The View" co-hosts agreed with her assessment. 

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"In terms of Trump, no, I don't think that's what should be on the agenda," co-host Sunny Hostin said. "Hakeem Jeffries — who I believe will be the next speaker of the House, after November — he has a plan for 100 days which includes tax credits, taking care of the tax credits, limiting ICE and also stock trades. 

"And then he's got a plan for the first 100 hours, which would include, you know, just undoing a lot of unpopular Trump policies. So, I think there is a plan in place that Democrats have, and it may not include impeaching Trump."

"I think that Democrats have to be realistic of what's achievable," co-host Ana Navarro said. "We are four days away from the election. So, before we start talking about what Democrats are going to do once they win, they've got to make sure they win. 

"People have to focus not on all of the conversation about impeachment and what is going to happen but rather on getting out the vote and getting people to the polls so that the American people decide who they want in power in the House and in the Senate.

"There's a limit to what Democrats are going to be able to do even if they win the House, even if they win the House and the Senate, because Donald Trump is still president," she continued. "Legislation in this country needs to be signed by the president. If not, it needs to have a veto-proof majority. And I think that's going to be very difficult to achieve. I'm completely against impeachment.

"There's 100 other ways to hold Donald Trump and his administration accountable," Navarro added. "Impeachment is an exercise that's moot if you don't have the 67 votes in the Senate required to indict."

Joy Behar pointed to former President Richard Nixon's resignation from office after Republican lawmakers warned him that he lacked sufficient Senate support to avoid conviction if impeached and said of Trump, "If we don't have the votes to convict, there's no point in impeaching."

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Sara Haines also agreed, arguing that many of Trump’s supporters are now angry with him for breaking campaign promises and that Democrats could capitalize on their dissatisfaction by delivering on their own promises.

"It's important to recognize the moment," she said. "Donald Trump was elected and promised things he never touched. He's been remodeling, redecorating, working to revenge, all the things. The voters were left high and dry, which is why we're seeing some red states flip full to blue," she said. "That's why we are watching this campaigning.

"They need to see someone get in there, hold them accountable, do the investigations, fine," Haines continued. "But really show the American people that what they promised, to fix all these things, that immediately there's action taken. Even if it can't get past the president. Spin the wheels. Show the people that you are putting up policy, that you are taking things to vote, that you are actually acting for the people that put you there."

"Impeachment is not where the focus should be," Alyssa Farah Griffin said. "It costs actually a lot of money to do a trial, do the investigation.

"What I think is important is there are day one things that would be beneficial for all Americans and a lot of Republicans would be on board with that a Democratic Congress could do," she continued. 

"Repealing Trump's tariffs, that is the power of the purse controlled by Congress and trying to wind down or pause the war in Iran. Those are things you should get Republican votes to do. That will bring down people's fuel prices. Those are where the focus should be."

Earlier this month, veteran Democratic strategist James Carville also warned Democrats against impeaching Trump if the party wins control of Congress in the midterms. 

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Democratic strategist and co-host of "The Huddle" podcast Dan Turrentine told Fox News Digital, "Neither the Senate arithmetic nor the American people are there. Folks are angry with the president about the economy, tariffs, healthcare, the war with Iran, corruption. They feel he is focused on everything but them.

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"Our job is to fight for the real lives of real people, solving their problems, while providing appropriate oversight of the executive branch and trusting the electorate provides accountability," he added. 

"The quickest path back to the minority or continuing to be on the outside, looking into the White House, is to focus on revenge and score settling."

McKinney, Texas, is ground zero for the migration of voters from California to Texas over the past several years. On Election Day, it is these newcomers who may well tip the balance not just in the Senate and governor's races.

They may also decide whether the once ruby red Lone Star State will continue to grow bluer.

I met Oren at The Celt on the picture-postcard town square, where we played a friendly game of pool. He moved from California about a year ago "because it’s a lot cheaper to live" but is voting for Democrats because he believes that Texas needs "more social services and public transit" and more support for transgender kids.

When I gently tried to press Oren on the apparent illogic of moving away from a high-tax, big-government blue state for reasons of cost only to vote to make his new home a high-tax, big-government state, he was unmoved, almost arguing that real California progressivism has never been tried.

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It turns out that Oren was not as much of an outlier as I had expected because, not long after, I met Daniel, who works at a local restaurant and moved to McKinney a few years ago with his best friend and girlfriend to start a business. He has also proudly brought his politics with him.

"It’s in the Constitution," Daniel told Fox News Digital. "We can go anywhere we want. It's meant to be that way."

When I asked him if he could understand why so many people born and raised in Texas are worried about transplants changing its politics, he shrugged and said, "Things change."

JOE ROGAN WARNS LIBERALS AGAINST TRYING TO TURN TEXAS BLUE, SAYS IT WOULD WRECK THE STATE'S 'DELICATE BALANCE'

In the space of about five hours, I met two more refugees from California prepared to keep voting for Democrats. Like Oren and Daniel, they really did not see any irony in the fact that they may be recreating in Texas exactly the conditions they escaped in California.

The natives, however, do see the problem with the Californication of Texas. Terry, a longtime local in her 60s, told me, "I love to see the growth, and there’s a lot of it, but if they bring Democratic politics with them, then we stand to lose the whole thing bringing people here."

Clint, who was in town from his home just on the other side of the Oklahoma border, is worried not just about Texas turning blue through domestic migration, but even about the Sooner State eventually turning blue.

TRUMP WON THIS RELIABLY RED STATE BY DOUBLE DIGITS; NOW A DEADLOCKED RACE IS BRINGING HIM BACK

"I cannot comprehend why someone would move from a state because there’s high taxes and then come down here and vote for high taxes. I just can’t comprehend it," Clint told Fox News Digital. "And I’ve asked them to explain it to me, but they just cuss me out."

Thankfully, nobody cussed out this columnist for asking, but Clint is correct that the liberal transplants see no problem with transforming the red states they arrive in into blue states, and it's not just Texas.

Arizona and even Montana have seen influxes of liberal California voters. West Virginians have similar fears regarding their neighbors to the south in Northern Virginia, who are also attracted by the low taxes and cost of living.

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In Texas, there is a kind of double-pincer political invasion because, along with the Cali converts, unchecked immigration — illegal and otherwise — over decades has also pushed the needle left in the state. This is, in a nutshell, the new Democratic Party coalition: wealthy, college-educated Whites and immigrants.

The bottom line for Republicans — not just in Texas but in many red states — is that Americans are moving at stunning rates to cheaper states, which almost always means Republican states. The good news is that red states stand to gain in the Electoral College and in Congress after the next census, but that won’t matter if Democrats take them over.

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Between now and then, and especially on Tuesday, "Don’t you turn my red state blue" has to be the mantra of the GOP. If Texas falls this time, then anywhere can, and that is exactly what the Democrats moving to red states are hoping for and creating.

Rep. Tom Kean Jr., R-N.J., is responding to questions about missed congressional votes after a monthslong hospitalization for depression, saying he is "stronger than ever" as he seeks re-election in New Jersey's competitive 7th District.

Speaking on "The Fox News Rundown" podcast, Kean discussed his hospital stay earlier this year, explaining that his absence from Congress was due to a medical emergency.

"Nobody can schedule a medical emergency, and we were able to discuss and tell people while I was in the hospital that we [had] a medical situation in the family with me," he told Fox News’ Mike Emanuel.

REPUBLICAN CONGRESSMAN WILL END MONTHSLONG ABSENCE FROM DC AFTER MISSING 135 ROLL CALL VOTES

"I also spoke on the House floor when I returned that I'd been in the hospital for depression because I want to get rid of the stigma associated with any mental health condition."

In June, Kean returned to the House and disclosed that he had been diagnosed with depression after spending months in the hospital receiving treatment.

MISSING GOP CONGRESSMAN REVEALS HE'S 'MORE ENERGIZED THAN EVER' TO RETURN TO WASHINGTON

Kean had been absent from Congress since early March, missing more than 100 votes before publicly disclosing his diagnosis. 

The extended absence drew calls for transparency from lawmakers in both parties and became a focal point for his Democratic challenger, former Navy helicopter pilot Rebecca Bennett, in the competitive district.

Emanuel asked Kean whether his absence had affected his standing with voters.

SWING-SEAT REPUBLICAN SIDELINED BY 'SERIOUS' ILLNESS MISSES 88 VOTES AS MAJORITY HANGS BY THREAD

"As I said, I'm feeling stronger than ever. And I tell them the same issue that I just talked to you about. The fact that I had to treat my own mental health, I had to take that seriously," Kean said.

"I was in the hospital for those months that I was away. I spoke on the House floor that I had depression, and now we need to get rid of any stigma associated with mental health treatment."

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Kean also pointed to his legislative record, highlighting his work on bipartisan legislation in New Jersey that sought to require health insurers to provide equal coverage for mental and physical health treatment. He said he continues to pursue similar efforts in Washington.