Almost thirty foreign nationals living in California were charged by the United States Department of Justice for registering to vote illegally in elections, according to a news report by Newsmax.
Under federal law, it is illegal for non-citizens – including the lawful permanent residents (green card holders) to vote for the US President, the US Senate or the US House of Representatives. All states require US citizenship (by birth or naturalization) to both register and vote in federal and state elections.
To put things in perspective, posted below is the excerpt from the news report of Newsmax. Some parts in boldface…
The Department of Justice announced Monday that it filed criminal charges against 28 foreign nationals living in California for allegedly registering to vote illegally or casting ballots in U.S. elections.
The arrests escalate a fight over voter rolls between California and the Trump administration, which sued the state last week after identifying more than 20,000 registered voters it believes are noncitizens.
At least 11 of the 28 defendants were arrested Monday morning, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli of the Central District of California said at a news conference.
He said authorities expected to take the remaining 17 into custody “in the near future.”
The DOJ said in a news release that all 28 defendants, charged as part of Operation Protect the Vote, were lawful permanent residents, or green card holders, who have legal immigration status but are not U.S. citizens and are prohibited from voting in federal elections.
The charges include making false statements in naturalization applications and fraudulent voter registration, felony offenses carrying maximum prison sentences of five years.
Six defendants charged with voting illegally in the Eastern District of California face misdemeanor charges punishable by up to one year in prison.
The defendants arrested Monday were expected to make their initial appearances that afternoon in U.S. district courts, but no pleas were expected to be entered, the DOJ said.
Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter said the arrests demonstrated the need for California to address suspected noncitizens on its voter rolls.
He accused state officials of refusing to cooperate with federal efforts to verify voters’ citizenship and prevent illegal ballots from being counted.
“This Department of Justice will not look the other way while noncitizens vote in federal elections,” McCotter said at the news conference.
“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,” McCotter said in the release.
“California refused to look at that list,” he said.
“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,” McCotter said.
Descriptions of the defendants released by the DOJ indicate that at least 22 allegedly cast ballots in U.S. elections. McCotter said at least eight voted illegally more than once, including some in the 2026 primary.
Let me end this piece by asking you readers: What is your reaction to this development? Are you convinced that the officials of California are neglecting their duties on preventing voter fraud? Do you think California should be compelled to set aside the ballots from the more than 20,000 suspected non-citizens until their citizenship status get verified? Should the voter registration records of California be examined thoroughly to find and get rid of all the fraudulent people listed?
You may answer in the comments below. If you prefer to answer privately, you may do so by sending me a direct message online.
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