DOJ moves against 28 California green-card holders in a long-overdue voter-fraud case
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The U.S. Department of Justice announced criminal charges against 28 lawful permanent residents in California for allegedly registering to vote and casting illegal ballots, in a broader federal effort to confront non-citizen voting and protect the integrity of American elections.
The U.S. Department of Justice on Monday filed criminal charges against 28 lawful permanent residents in California accused of making false statements on naturalization applications and registering to vote illegally. Prosecutors allege that 21 of the defendants cast unlawful ballots, and eleven have already been taken into custody while arrests continue.
A DOJ spokesperson said the felonies carry potential sentences of up to five years in prison. The department has also sued California, seeking a court order to block the state from counting certain mail-in ballots in the upcoming November midterm elections. The lawsuit references a list of more than 20,000 names the federal government believes are likely non-citizens who received ballots, highlighting the scale of a problem that demands real enforcement.
California Secretary of State Shirley Weber described the DOJ’s demands as "outrageous" and warned that treating the names on the list as ineligible without proof could violate federal law protecting voter registration lists. Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn called the arrests "voter intimidation" and said they portray a picture of widespread fraud that she says does not exist.
Acting U.S. Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter acknowledged that the list may contain errors, noting that some names could belong to citizens and that the department’s estimates range from a floor of 20,000 to a ceiling of 190,000 potential non-citizen registrants.
Court documents indicate that at least some of the charged individuals were confused about their eligibility. One defendant, Erick Ronaldo Soto, said he was told by poll workers that his ballot would be checked for validity, while another, Jose Probitsado Amaro, said he filled out a mailed ballot without intent to defraud. A 61-year-old Tongan national also faces charges after registering and voting before applying for citizenship.
The DOJ has filed charges against a total of 112 people in 20 states for alleged registration offenses and illegal voting in recent weeks. Experts note that non-citizen voting is extremely rare and have expressed concern that aggressive enforcement could affect eligible voters, but supporters of the crackdown argue that even rare violations matter and must be punished to preserve trust in the system.