Federal agents arrested multiple suspects Monday in a sweeping California voter fraud probe that landed just days after the Justice Department threatened state election officials with legal action.
The morning raids, conducted under the banner “Operation Protect the Vote,” targeted more than two dozen foreign nationals accused of illegally registering to vote and, in most cases, casting ballots in U.S. Elections. Among those taken into custody was Alexander Muñoz, 72, a Belizean national whose Commerce home was raided around 6 a.m. By Homeland Security Investigations agents.
Agents pounded on Muñoz’s front door and ordered him to come out before taking him into custody, according to authorities. Investigators allege Muñoz fraudulently registered to vote in September 2019 by falsely claiming U.S. Citizenship, then proceeded to vote in the 2020 election, twice in 2022, and again in 2024.
The charges against Muñoz extend beyond illegal voting. Authorities say he also lied under oath on his naturalization application, falsely stating he had never claimed to be a U.S. Citizen. He now faces felony charges including making false statements in a naturalization application.
Bill Essayli, the top federal prosecutor in Los Angeles, said the arrests validate the federal government’s repeated warnings about noncitizen voting 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.
The crackdown follows a rapid escalation of federal pressure on California election officials. Last Tuesday, acting Deputy Attorney General R. Trent McCotter sent letters to Secretary of State Shirley Weber and Los Angeles County Clerk Dean Logan demanding they review a password-protected thumb drive containing more than 20,000 suspected noncitizens who allegedly received mail-in ballots for next month’s midterm election. McCotter gave them 48 hours to comply and warned of legal consequences if they failed.
A representative for Logan confirmed receipt of the letter. Two days after the deadline, on Thursday, the Trump administration filed a lawsuit against the state for failing to review the list.
“State-facilitated voter fraud is unacceptable in the United States of America,” Attorney General Todd Blanche said in defense of the litigation. “If found responsible in a court of law, the State of California will have seriously undermined confidence in our electoral system.”
DOJ lawyers argued in the suit that federal law obligates them to intervene to prevent noncitizens from voting in federal elections, where U.S. Citizenship is a strict requirement.
California officials have pushed back hard against the federal claims. Gov. Gavin Newsom blasted the entire effort on X as an attempt to disrupt the state’s electoral 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. “Courts have made clear the federal government has no role in running state elections.”
Local officials have consistently denied that noncitizen voting is a widespread problem in California, a position that now clashes directly with the federal government’s public assertions and Monday’s arrests.
Prosecutors planned a press conference for later Monday morning to provide additional details on how many of the targeted suspects had been apprehended.