Justice Department charges 28 alleged noncitizen voters in California

The U.S. Department of Justice charged 28 alleged noncitizen voters in California with election crimes, including illegal voting and making false statements on naturalization forms. The arrests were part of a broader crackdown, Operation Protect the Vote, that targeted suspects from a list of over 20,000 noncitizens. The charges accompany a legal feud between federal officials and California over voter rolls, with Governor Gavin Newsom dismissing the DOJ actions as a clown show.

Federal charges and nationwide enforcement

• ▪Nationwide federal enforcement charged 48 alleged noncitizens across California, Florida, New York, Nevada, and Pennsylvania with election-related crimes
• ▪The 28 defendants charged in California under Operation Protect the Vote were identified from a federal list of over 20,000 suspected noncitizen voters provided to state election officials
• ▪The U.S. Department of Justice filed federal charges against 28 California green card holders for illegal voting, false naturalization statements, and falsely claiming U.S. citizenship under oath on voter registration applications

Individual California noncitizen voter cases

• ▪Moe Thida Lwin, a 57-year-old Myanmar national residing in Daly City, California, was charged with fraudulently registering to vote in 2024 and illegally voting in a U.S. election
• ▪José Probitsado Amaro, a 51-year-old Philippine national in San Diego County, was charged with falsely claiming U.S. citizenship to register to vote and casting a ballot in November 2024
• ▪Omar Alexander Muñoz, a 72-year-old Belizean national residing in California, was charged with fraudulently registering to vote in September 2019 and casting ballots in 2020, 2022, and 2024 elections

Operation Protect the Vote raids

• ▪Federal agents arrested 11 noncitizens across California in a series of raids under a statewide takedown dubbed Operation Protect the Vote
• ▪Homeland Security Investigations agents raided the City of Commerce home of Omar Alexander Muñoz around 6 a.m., taking him into custody

DOJ legal disputes with California officials

• ▪The U.S. Department of Justice demanded California set aside 20,000 votes, which state officials challenged as an illegal intervention during active early voting
• ▪California Governor Gavin Newsom criticized the U.S. Department of Justice's legal actions against the state in Operation Protect the Vote, characterizing the attempts as a desperate clown show
• ▪The U.S. Department of Justice sued California Secretary of State Shirley Weber and the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder over allegations of noncitizens on state voter rolls

Broader immigration enforcement context

• ▪The federal voter fraud prosecutions in California coincided with intensified immigration enforcement actions during President Donald Trump's second administration term
• ▪Federal immigration authorities were involved in multiple enforcement incidents resulting in injuries and deaths following President Donald Trump's return to office