The U.S. Department of Justice announced on Monday, October 19, that 28 foreign nationals in California had been charged in criminal complaints with federal election crimes, including fraudulently registering to vote in U.S. elections, and that federal law enforcement arrested 11 of them that day, according to the department's release from the Eastern District of California. The arrests were part of “Operation Protect the Vote,” a coordinated effort among all four California-based U.S. Attorney's Offices.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice
All 28 people charged are lawful permanent residents — green card holders — the department said. Green card holders may live and work in the United States, but they are not U.S. citizens and are not permitted to vote in U.S. elections. The charges include making false statements in a naturalization application, and some defendants are also charged with fraudulent voter registration; both are felonies carrying a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison, the department said. The Associated Press, via Scripps News, reported that most of those charged are accused of casting ballots, and that the sweep came less than two weeks before the November 3 midterms.
Source: Associated Press via Scripps News / Tampa Bay 28
A criminal complaint contains accusations, not findings. The Justice Department itself notes that all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
The wider fight: a list of 20,000 names
On October 13, the federal government gave California a list of more than 20,000 people it calls likely noncitizen registrants and asked the state to set aside their vote-by-mail ballots until citizenship could be confirmed, the Justice Department said. California declined to assist, and the United States sued, asking a court to order the ballots set aside. This week the department pressed for quick court action, while California asked the judge to dismiss the case, according to reporting on the filings. Attorney General Rob Bonta called the lawsuit meritless and said California had a high level of confidence it would be dismissed.
Los Angeles County election officials told the court their preliminary analysis showed the federal list was unreliable, with many people on it reporting a U.S. birthplace, according to reporting by KVCR and NPR summarised by Zark News. Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter said each of the 28 defendants appears on the list given to California and argued the state must verify the citizenship of those registrants before mail-in ballots are counted.
Source: Zark News (KVCR / NPR reporting)
For Punjabi and other immigrant families in California — including many green card holders in the Central Valley, Sacramento and the Bay Area — the case carries a direct practical warning that runs through the charges themselves: registering to vote or voting in a federal election while a noncitizen is a federal crime, and prosecutors allege it was also concealed on naturalization applications. Anyone unsure about their eligibility should check with an immigration attorney or accredited representative, not rely on a form handed out at a public office.