CBS News’ Leslie Stahl questioned “the purpose” of prosecuting noncitizen voting because “very, very few” people do it. The next morning federal law enforcement announced charges against 28 noncitizens in California amid a crackdown on the state’s alleged mass noncitizen voter fraud scheme.
The Monday announcement came hours after CBS News aired a 60 Minutes segment in which Stahl tried to downplay the significance of election fraud while speaking with Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon.
“There are people who feel that the point is to sow distrust about the whole election system.” Stahl said, adding, “There are very few people who are noncitizens who end up voting. Very, very few. And so therefore what’s the purpose?”
“The point is actually the opposite of what you were saying. It’s not to sow distrust. The distrust is there,” Dhillon replied. “And so all of these kinds of crimes are being prosecuted now for the first time really in volume.”
On Monday, the Justice Department announced that as part of “Operation Protect the Vote,” the DOJ charged 28 noncitizens with felony offenses including illegally registering to vote in U.S. elections and lying on naturalization documents. Most of the noncitizens charged with illegally registering to vote allegedly cast ballots, according to the New York Post, and the DOJ press release specifically alleges that 23 noncitizens voted in U.S. elections.
— U.S. Department of Justice (@TheJusticeDept) October 19, 2026THIS MORNING IN CA: Acting Deputy Attorney General @PADAGMcCotter announces charges against 28 Foreign Nationals in California for election crimes.
"Today's charges demonstrate why that lawsuit [against CA over its voter rolls] is so important. The lawsuit is about preventing… pic.twitter.com/d0oIJ4sRFb
One of the 11 arrestees detailed, Alexander Muñoz, allegedly registered to vote illegally in September of 2019, falsely claiming he was a citizen. He allegedly voted in four elections between 2020 and 2024. Muñoz reportedly is facing felony charges that include making false statements in a naturalization application after he allegedly lied and said he never claimed to be a citizen.
Rouzbeh Seyamaknejad is alleged to have fraudulently registered to vote in December of 2018 and voted in the 2024 election. Seyamaknejad allegedly lied in his naturalization application in January of 2024, the Department of Justice alleges.
Mexican national Sulema de León “fraudulently registered to vote in 2013, lied on her naturalization application in 2019, and voted in the November 2020 U.S. general election,” according to the DOJ.
The DOJ said that in fewer than two months it has charged 113 noncitizens in 20 states for illegally voting or registering to vote.
The crackdown comes just days after the Trump administration issued an ultimatum to California, ordering the state to review a list of suspected noncitizen voters who received mail-in ballots. The state failed to meet the 48-hour deadline, and the administration then sued the state in order to stop it from counting mail-in ballots of those on the list until each voter’s citizenship status could be determined, according to the Associated Press.
California isn’t the only state where federal prosecutors have brought charges over the conduct that Stahl downplayed.
Just last month two noncitizens in New Jersey were charged with “illegally voting in a federal election and making false statements while applying for U.S. citizenship,” according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). The arrests came just weeks after Democrat Gov. Mikie Sherrill claimed a “software error” (preceding her time in office) allowed approximately 6,600 noncitizens to register to vote in the state. New Jersey is one of 30 states (including California) being sued for refusing to turn over voter rolls in order to check for improper or fraudulent voter registrations.
Brianna Lyman is an elections correspondent at The Federalist. Brianna graduated from Fordham University with a degree in International Political Economy. Her work has been featured on Newsmax, Fox News, Fox Business and RealClearPolitics. Follow Brianna on X: @briannalyman2