LOS ANGELES — Federal officers arrested 11 foreign nationals across California on Monday, the Justice Department said. The 11 are among 28 people charged in criminal complaints with election crimes, among them registering to vote fraudulently and, in most cases, casting ballots the department says were illegal.
The arrests were part of “Operation Protect the Vote,” a coordinated effort by all four U.S. Attorney’s Offices in California, according to the department.
All 28 people charged are lawful permanent residents. They hold green cards and have legal status in the United States, the department said, but they are not citizens and may not vote in U.S. elections.
The charges vary by district. Most defendants face felony counts that include making false statements in a naturalization application, and some are also charged with fraudulent voter registration, the department said. Both felonies carry a maximum of five years in federal prison. In the Eastern District, the charge is voting by an alien, a misdemeanor with a maximum of one year.
“Every illegal vote cancels out the vote of a lawful American citizen,”
McCotter said each of the 28 defendants appears on a list of more than 20,000 likely noncitizen registrants that the department gave California election officials last week. “California refused to look at that list,” he said. “Today’s charges show exactly what that refusal puts at risk.”
The federal government gave California a list of the individuals on Oct. 13 so their vote-by-mail ballots could be set aside until their citizenship was confirmed, the department said. California declined to help set the ballots aside. The United States then sued, asking a court to step in.
“Today’s arrests prove what we have been saying,” said Bill Essayli, the first assistant U.S. attorney for the Central District of California. “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.”
According to court documents cited by the department, the defendants claimed under oath on voter registration applications that they were U.S. citizens. The applications were approved, and many of the defendants then voted in recent elections. Prosecutors say the defendants later lied in naturalization paperwork, stating they had never claimed citizenship and had never registered or voted.
One defendant, Omar Alexander Muñoz, 72, a Belizean national living in Commerce, registered in September 2019 and voted in 2020, twice in 2022 and in 2024, according to the complaint. Another, Butleng Taing, 43, a Cambodian national living in Long Beach, registered in July 2021, voted in 2022 and 2024, and lied on naturalization paperwork in August 2025, prosecutors say.
The cases are spread across the state — 13 defendants in the Central District, six in the Eastern District, five in the Northern District and four in the Southern District.
John A. Condon, acting executive associate director of Homeland Security Investigations, said HSI would keep pursuing people who knowingly break federal election law, and that investigations would be conducted “fairly, thoroughly, and consistent with due process.”
USA Today reported that, nationwide, the Justice Department has now charged 113 people with illegal voting and registration offenses, according to Essayli.
Those arrested Monday were expected in U.S. District Courts on Monday afternoon for initial appearances. No pleas were to be taken. A complaint contains accusations only, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
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