Most of the immigrants targeted by federal authorities in California this week for alleged voter fraud had applied for U.S. citizenship and now face charges related to allegedly lying on forms or during interviews — charges that could lead to years in prison and thwart their efforts to naturalize, the Associated Press reported on October 23. The charges are allegations; none of the defendants has been convicted.

Source: Associated Press via The Hindu BusinessLine

Federal authorities on Monday charged 28 legal permanent residents in California in a crackdown on people accused of illegally voting or registering to do so. As of Thursday morning, the government had filed charging documents in 10 of the 28 cases, offering additional detail about how authorities relied on voter registration data to pursue broader criminal charges around immigration status, AP said.

Among those charged is Amandeep Kaur, who has lived in the country for eight years and is in the process of becoming a naturalized U.S. citizen, her husband Kulwinder Singh told AP. Singh, who is a U.S. citizen, said his wife got her driver's licence in 2024 but took the written test at the DMV in Hindi because she struggles with English. He said he does not know if she registered to vote then, and that she received and returned a ballot in 2024 but they both thought it was a registration form. 'All she does is cry. It's heartbreaking,' Singh said.

Why the false-statement charges matter more than the voting charge

Immigrants convicted of illegally voting in the United States face up to a year in prison, AP reported. Those convicted of lying on applications to become American citizens face up to a decade. The Justice Department said six people would be charged with voting as a noncitizen, a misdemeanour, while the 22 others faced a combination of felony charges including allegedly lying on their naturalization application during interviews or on voter registration forms. Most of those charged have lived in the country for at least five years, some for decades, and could face deportation if they lied on their citizenship application, AP said.

Another defendant, José Antonio Bañuelos-Díaz, 42, applied for citizenship in October 2025 after living in the country for 40 years as a legal permanent resident. Charging documents allege he improperly claimed to be a citizen in 2007 when registering to vote and later lied about it on immigration paperwork; the government has not accused him of casting a ballot. He told AP he had no idea he had registered to vote until he was arrested Monday outside his Los Angeles home, though he recalls getting a driver's licence around 2007 — in California, people are prompted to register to vote when applying for a licence. 'I have never voted because I know I can't vote,' he said. He was released after his arrest but faces up to five years in prison if convicted, AP reported.

In another case described in charging documents, Homeland Security agents arrested Pamele Arbues Line immediately after her October 15 naturalization interview in San Diego. The government alleges she registered to vote five times and submitted ballots in several elections while saying in paperwork and in her interview that she had never voted or claimed to be a U.S. citizen; according to the documents, she later told agents she registered while renewing her driver's licence last year and voted once. Line, 56, from the Philippines, told authorities she thought she was a citizen because her mother had naturalized after they moved to the United States more than four decades ago, but she was 19 at the time and not covered by her mother's citizenship, according to the government. She faces at least 10 years in prison if convicted of two charges, AP reported.

How the cases were found — and the wider fight over 20,000 voters

The Department of Homeland Security did not say what initially drew attention to those charged, but said in an email that it reviewed naturalization and other records. Some court documents describe a benefits fraud audit performed by Homeland Security in August that started the process of identifying those charged this week, AP said. 'The voting rights of American citizens must be protected,' First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said in a statement announcing the charges.

Source: Associated Press via People Daily

The cases are part of a Trump administration effort to root out noncitizen voting ahead of the midterm elections, even though data cited by AP shows the problem is incredibly rare, difficult to prove and has not been shown to change the outcome of races. The Justice Department has sued California for not complying with a request to verify the citizenship of roughly 20,000 registered voters it says may be noncitizens. California, which has more than 23 million registered voters, has argued it complies with federal law and that the administration's numbers are likely significantly inflated. State election officials also noted that once a ballot is mailed in, it is separated from any individual voter identification, making it impossible to separate ballots based on the information provided by the federal government.

Beyond voting, the administration has slowed approvals of naturalization applications: government data cited by AP shows officials approved 58,000 naturalization applications between April and June 2026, less than a quarter of the number approved in the same period in 2025. Immigrants can apply to become citizens after holding green cards for at least three years; they must answer extensive questions about voting, political activities and crime, pass background checks and a civics test, and meet English language requirements.