Justice Department charges noncitizen voters in California sweep

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 19 Oct, 16:02 · Archive

Federal authorities arrested more than two dozen foreign nationals in California on Monday as part of Operation Protect the Vote, a Trump administration effort to target noncitizen voting ahead of next month's midterm elections. Those arrested are lawful permanent residents, not U.S. citizens, and are charged with crimes including making false statements on naturalization applications and submitting fraudulent voter registrations.

The arrests reflect a broader conflict between the Justice Department and California. Last week, the department sued the state and warned that local election workers who knowingly process ballots from noncitizen voters risk investigation and prosecution. The federal government has made noncitizen voting a priority this year, demanding detailed voter information from states including dates of birth, addresses and driver's licence numbers.

Before Monday's arrests, the Justice Department had charged about 90 people for various types of election misconduct this year, including 50 alleged to have voted as noncitizens. According to the outlets, data shows noncitizen voting is incredibly rare, difficult to prove and has not been shown to change the outcome of races. There were more than 227 million registered voters in the United States during the 2024 presidential election.

How it is being reported

• Justice Department charges more than 2 dozen in California sweep targeting noncitizen votersFederal authorities are arresting more than two dozen foreign nationals in California who authorities said have illegally registered and voted in U.S. elections.News4Jax · 19 Oct, 15:46
• Justice Department charges more than 2 dozen in California sweep targeting noncitizen votersFederal authorities are arresting more than two dozen foreign nationals in California who authorities said have illegally registered and voted in U.S. elections.Clickorlando · 19 Oct, 15:46

In this story: Justice Department · California · Trump · United States

This summary was written by AI from the headlines and standfirsts above, and states as fact only what at least two outlets report. How we use AI · Report a problem