The Justice Department on Monday morning charged 28 non-citizens for registering to vote in California.

11 of the defendants have been arrested so far.

Via the Justice Department:

Federal law enforcement throughout California today arrested 11 foreign nationals living in the United States who are charged in criminal complaints with federal crimes, including that they fraudulently registered to vote in U.S. elections, electoral contests in which most of them cast illegal and fraudulently obtained ballots.

Today’s arrests are part of “Operation Protect the Vote” – a coordinated effort among all four California-based United States Attorney’s Offices to combat and root out fraud in U.S. elections and protect electoral integrity.

All 28 foreign nationals charged are lawful permanent residents (LPRs), or “green card” holders. Although LPRs have legal immigration status in the United States, they are not U.S. citizens and are not permitted to vote in U.S. elections.

The criminal charges include making false statements in a naturalization application and some of the defendants also are charged with fraudulent voter registration. Both charges are felonies that carry a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison.

First Assistant US Attorney Bill Essayli announced the arrests and charges on Monday during a press conference.

“Today’s arrests prove what we have been saying,” said Essayli.

“California is mailing ballots to noncitizens, and they are refusing to comply with federal law, which makes it a crime for noncitizens to vote. The voting rights of American citizens must be protected,” Essayli added.

“Every illegal vote cancels out the vote of a lawful American citizen,” said Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter.

“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. 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,” McCotter said.

“These are not isolated instances,” Essayli said.

WATCH:

BREAKING: Federal authorities have begun arresting 28 noncitizens accused of illegally registering to vote in the U.S., with prosecutors saying many actually cast ballots in previous elections.

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli says the arrests began early this morning, with at least 11 suspects already in custody and more arrests expected.

The new charges come as the DOJ reports charging 113 noncitizens across 20 states with illegal voting and registration offenses in just seven weeks.

"These are not isolated instances," Essayli says, revealing that the Justice Department has charged 156 people with voting fraud-related offenses since the administration began, adding that federal authorities are investigating thousands of additional potential cases nationwide.

— Fox News (@FoxNews) October 19, 2026

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