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Federal agents visit homes in states asking residents about citizenship and voting

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Coverage spectrum

Covered by 6 outlets across the spectrum.

8 articles in total. The spectrum counts each outlet once and leaves opinion out. How we measure bias

Two agents in HSI jackets stand at a front porch while residents, faces blurred, stand in the doorway.
Image via CBS NewsHow images are chosenReport this image

Federal agents, including Homeland Security Investigations personnel, have been visiting homes in several states ahead of the midterm elections. They ask residents about their immigration or citizenship status and whether they are registered to vote. CBS News reported the visits after its investigation. Newsweek reported that photos shared by HSI showed agents at doors in Northern California and Kansas City. Just the News reported that the number of visits rose in September and continued into the following weekend. The Justice Department announced a string of arrests in California tied to alleged voter fraud. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said HSI is actively investigating election fraud wherever it can be found. Critics quoted by Newsweek argue the visits risk intimidating lawful voters.

Headline and summary written by Mantle’s AI from the coverage below, under published rules. How this works

What happened

Key points

Each point shows who reports it, from Far Left to Far Right.

  1. Federal agents have been knocking on doors in several states ahead of the midterm elections, asking residents about immigration or citizenship status and voter registration.

    Reported byFar Left1Left2Center1Far Right1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Far Left
    The New Republic
    Left
    CBS News, The Independent
    Center
    Newsweek
    Far Right
    Just the News

  2. The number of home visits increased in September and continued into a recent weekend.

    One outletJust the News· Far Right

  3. The Justice Department announced a string of arrests in California related to alleged voter fraud.

    One outletJust the News· Far Right

  4. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said HSI is actively rooting out and investigating election fraud wherever it can be found.

    One outletThe Independent· Left

  5. Photos shared by Homeland Security Investigations showed agents knocking on doors in Northern California and Kansas City.

    One outletNewsweek· Center

  6. Wendy Weiser of the Brennan Center said the door visits are tactics designed to intimidate legitimate voters.

    One outletNewsweek· Center

What is contested

Where accounts differ

Points the coverage does not agree on, and who says what.

  • The door visits are a legitimate effort to find noncitizens who voted or are registered to vote.

    The DHS spokesperson and the Trump administration say the visits protect election integrity. Critics, including Wendy Weiser of the Brennan Center, say the visits risk intimidating lawful voters and expand federal involvement in voter-roll investigations that states have traditionally handled.

How each side tells it

Compare views

Left, center and right outlets all report federal agents visiting homes to check citizenship and registration before the midterms. Left outlets stress armed agents and a crackdown tied to the president's deportation push, while the center notes agents handle cross-border crime and the right stresses the root-out goal and DOJ arrests.

  • the left

    3 outlets

    Left headlines lead with armed agents at doors; The New Republic, at the far left, adds hunt and draconian crackdown, and The Independent links the visits to migrants who illegally voted.

    Armed federal agents knock on doors looking for noncitizen voters
    CBS NewsLeftAll left-leaning headlines

  • the center

    1 outlet

    Newsweek's headline states the visits plainly as armed agents searching for noncitizen voters; its description notes the agents are usually assigned to cross-border crimes.

    Armed Federal Agents Knock on Doors in Search for Noncitizen Voters
    NewsweekCenterAll center headlines

  • the right

    2 outlets

    Just the News frames the visits as a federal effort to root out noncitizen voting, attributed to a report, and leads with the rise in home visits and DOJ arrests.

    Federal agents knocking on doors in several states to Loaded verb“root out”Suggests a sweeping hunt for wrongdoing before the facts are established.More neutral: checkDisagree with this highlight? noncitizens voting: report
    Just the NewsFar RightAll right-leaning headlines

The words they chose

Language to notice

Words that carry a judgement beyond the facts. Tap a highlighted word anywhere on the page to see why.

  • Left4

    draconian crackdownmanufacture proof of election fraudHunt formigrants who illegally voted

  • Center0

    No loaded words in its own voice.

  • Right2

    election-integrity effortroot out

In the outlets’ own words

  • Partisan shorthand

    election-integrity effortMore neutral: effort to find potential noncitizen voters

    Names the operation with a label that presents its aim as integrity, where the other outlet describes an effort to root out potential noncitizen voters.

    The operation is part of a broader election-integrity effort to prevent noncitizens from voting ahead of the midterms, CBS News reported.

    Used byJust the News (Far Right)

  • Loaded verb

    root outMore neutral: check

    Suggests a sweeping hunt for wrongdoing before the facts are established.

    Federal agents knocking on doors in several states to root out noncitizens voting: report

    Used byJust the News (Far Right)

  • Sensational language

    draconian crackdownMore neutral: enforcement effort

    Draconian is a judgement about the effort that the reporting does not establish.

    CBS News reported Wednesday that the draconian crackdown—a combination of President Trump’s mass deportation effort and his desperate…

    Used byThe New Republic (Far Left)

  • Loaded verb

    manufacture proof of election fraudMore neutral: look for evidence of election fraud

    Manufacture asserts that the proof is fabricated, a judgement the reporting does not establish.

    …President Trump’s mass deportation effort and his desperate attempt to manufacture proof of election fraud—was already underway in multiple states, having accelerated last month.

    Used byThe New Republic (Far Left)

Show 2 more phrasesShow fewer

  • Loaded verb

    Hunt forMore neutral: look for

    Hunt presents the visits as a pursuit of people, which the neutral wording of the other headlines does not.

    Armed Federal Agents Go Door to Door to Hunt for Noncitizen Voters

    Used byThe New Republic (Far Left)

  • Loaded modifier

    migrants who illegally votedMore neutral: people suspected of voting illegally

    Describes the people agents are seeking as having already voted illegally, before any finding.

    Homeland Security is showing up on doorsteps hoping to find migrants who illegally voted

    Used byThe Independent (Left)

See the full language guide

See for yourself

Side by side

What each side leads with and what it leaves out. Open a side to read its headlines.

From the left

3 outlets

Leads with

  • armed agents at the door
  • crackdown tied to the deportation push
  • finding noncitizen voters

Leaves out

  • Justice Department arrests in California

Reported by other sides, not found in this side’s coverage.

See the 3 headlines from the leftHide the headlines

From the center

1 outlet

Leads with

  • agents usually assigned to cross-border crime
  • final weeks before the midterms
  • administration's election integrity effort
See the headline from the centerHide the headlines
  • NewsweekCenter

    Armed Federal Agents Knock on Doors in Search for Noncitizen Voters

    The DHS agents usually assigned to cross-border crimes have been visiting homes of immigrants in the final weeks of the midterms.

    Read at Newsweek (opens in a new tab)

From the right

2 outlets

Leads with

  • root out noncitizen voting
  • rising number of home visits
  • DOJ arrests in California

Leaves out

  • concerns that the visits intimidate voters

Reported by other sides, not found in this side’s coverage.

See the 2 headlines from the rightHide the headlines

Articles you open from here build My Mix, a private picture of how your reading spreads across the spectrum, kept on this device. What is My Mix?

The left is Far Left and Left together. The right is Right and Far Right together. Every outlet keeps its own five-point rating.

Who reported it when

How the coverage built up

  • Left

    First to report

    CBS News, Oct 21, 6:00 AM EDT

  • Center

    11 hr 57 min later

    Its first report, Oct 21, 5:57 PM EDT

  • Right

    13 hr 25 min later

    Its first report, Oct 21, 7:24 PM EDT

See the order the outlets reported inHide the order
  1. CBS NewsLeftOct 21, 6:00 AM EDT
  2. The New RepublicFar LeftOct 21, 11:53 AM EDT
  3. The IndependentLeftOct 21, 4:00 PM EDT
  4. NewsweekCenterOct 21, 5:57 PM EDT
  5. Breitbart NewsFar RightOct 21, 7:24 PM EDT

Times are the ones the outlets published in their own feeds, in Eastern time. Opinion is left out. Just the News gave only a date, so it is not placed.

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