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Federal agents collared suspects in a slew of voter fraud cases Monday morning, chasing targets across California drawn from a list of more than 20,000 suspected noncitizens in the state who allegedly registered to vote in next month’s midterm election.
Law enforcement authorities sought more than two dozen foreign nationals charged with fraudulently registering to vote in US elections, in which most of them allegedly cast illegal ballots, under the effort dubbed “Operation Protect the Vote.”
Homeland Security Investigations swooped on the Commerce home of Alexander Muñoz around 6 a.m. in one of the arrests.
The agents pounded on the front door, calling for Muñoz to come out. He emerged and was taken into custody.
Authorities say Muñoz, 72, a Belizean national, fraudulently registered to vote in September 2019, claiming his was a U.S. citizen. He then voted in U.S. elections in 2020, twice in 2022, and in 2024.
Muñoz also lied on his application to become a naturalized US citizen, when he falsely stated under oath to have never claimed to be a citizen, investigators say. He faces felony charges, including making false statements in a naturalization application.
LA’s top federal prosecutor, Bill Essayli, said the charges brought against Muñoz and other suspects sought Monday buttress the federal government’s claims of widespread voter fraud in California.
“Today’s arrests confirm what we suspected and what we put California on notice for: Noncitizens are voting in California elections which is unconstitutional and illegal,” he said.
In addition to Muñoz, federal agents sought more than two dozen addition individuals accused of similar crimes.
It was unclear immediately how many had been apprehended. Prosecutors planned a press conference for later Monday morning to provide details.
The arrests of alleged noncitizen voters were the latest escalation in a federal effort to tackle electoral wrongdoing in California, something local officials have denied is a widespread problem.
The Trump administration last week filed a bombshell lawsuit against the state for failing to review a list of more than 20,000 suspected noncitizens in the state who allegedly registered to vote in next month’s midterm election.
The suit filed Thursday came two days after Justice Department officials ordered the state’s election bosses to review the list naming thousands of alleged noncitizens believed to be on California’s voter rolls — giving them 48 hours to comply.
DOJ lawyers argued in the suit that the federal government has an obligation to intervene to prevent the state from permitting noncitizens to vote in federal elections. Under federal law, only US citizens are permitted to vote in such elections.
Federal officials supplied Los Angeles County with a password-protected thumb drive identifying suspected noncitizens who were sent mail-in ballots, according to letters sent Tuesday to Secretary of State Shirley Weber and LA County Clerk Dean Logan.
Acting Deputy Attorney General R. Trent McCotter warned Logan and Weber in the letter that they would face legal challenge if they failed to review the list in time. A representative for Logan confirmed receipt of the letter.
Gov. Gavin Newsom blasted the effort as an attempt to interfere with California’s voting process.
“This is a sad, desperate attempt by Trump to use his politicized Justice Department to try to suppress California voters just three weeks before Election Day,” Newsom wrote on X. “Courts have made clear the federal government has no role in running state elections.”
US Attorney General Todd Blanche defended the lawsuit.
“State-facilitated voter fraud is unacceptable in the United States of America,” Blanche said. “If found responsible in a court of law, the State of California will have seriously undermined confidence in our electoral system.”