Election Bombshell - Trump DOJ Arrested Them - Newsom Is Furious
The Justice Department has charged 28 noncitizens in California with federal election-related offenses, intensifying the Trump administration’s dispute with state officials over voter eligibility two weeks before the November 3 midterms.
Federal authorities arrested 11 defendants Monday as part of “Operation Protect the Vote,” a coordinated effort involving all four U.S. Attorney’s Offices in California. Authorities said they would also take the remaining defendants into custody.
All 28 are lawful permanent residents, commonly known as green-card holders. They may legally live in the United States, but they are not citizens and cannot vote in federal elections.
“Every illegal vote cancels out the vote of a lawful American citizen,” Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter said.
“Each of the 28 defendants charged today appears on the list of more than 20,000 likely noncitizen registrants we provided to California election officials last week,” he continued, per a Justice Department press release.
“California refused to look at that list. Today’s charges show exactly what that refusal puts at risk. California must verify the citizenship of those more than 20,000 registrants before mail-in ballots are counted,” he added.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli, who is based in California, said the cases show that the state has mailed ballots to noncitizens. He argued that California officials should do more to ensure only eligible citizens vote.
The charges include allegedly voting as a noncitizen, fraudulently registering to vote and making false statements on naturalization applications about prior voting. Federal officials say 21 of the 28 defendants cast ballots, with some accused of voting in multiple elections over several years.
One defendant, 72-year-old Belizean national Omar Alexander Muñoz, allegedly registered in 2019 by falsely claiming to be a U.S. citizen. Prosecutors say he then voted in the 2020 election, twice in 2022 and again in 2024. They also accuse him of falsely stating on his naturalization application that he had never claimed to be an American citizen.
Another defendant, Mexican national Camino Giles Jiménez, allegedly voted in three U.S. elections despite knowing he was not a citizen. Prosecutors say his most recent ballot was cast in California’s June 2026 primary.
Other defendants allegedly registered and voted in the 2024 presidential election, then denied their voting histories or previous claims of citizenship while seeking naturalization.
The felony charges involving fraudulent voter registration and false statements on naturalization applications carry maximum sentences of five years in federal prison. Voting as a noncitizen carries a maximum one-year sentence.
The Justice Department said it gave California officials the list on October 13 and asked them to set aside mail ballots connected to the flagged voters until their citizenship could be checked. State officials declined. The department then sued California, seeking a federal court order to prevent potentially ineligible ballots from being counted before the voters’ citizenship status is determined.
California officials dispute the administration’s broader claims. They warn that federal databases can mistakenly identify naturalized citizens as noncitizens and argue that removing voters abruptly could disenfranchise eligible Americans.
State officials and voting-rights advocates have cited cases elsewhere where federal lists were inaccurate. In Nevada, officials said all 185 people previously flagged as potential noncitizens were citizens.
The 28 California prosecutions do not establish that all—or even a large share—of the more than 20,000 people flagged by federal authorities are illegally registered. The cases do, however, give the Justice Department specific prosecutions as it argues that California’s safeguards have allowed some noncitizens to register and vote.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Secretary of State Shirley Weber reject claims that the state tolerates widespread illegal voting. They have emphasized that noncitizen voting is already prohibited under state and federal law.
The California cases are part of a broader Justice Department enforcement effort that has resulted in election-related charges against more than 100 people in roughly 20 states in recent weeks.