The Trump administration is not pulling any punches in its relentless fight for election integrity, now asking a federal court for an emergency order to compel California election officials to set aside vote-by-mail ballots from a staggering 20,000 individuals identified as "likely non-citizens." The Department of Justice (DOJ) demands these ballots be withheld from tabulation until their citizenship status is definitively verified, putting California on notice just weeks before the crucial midterm elections.

This aggressive move comes on the heels of "Operation Protect the Vote," a decisive crackdown that saw federal criminal charges filed against 28 foreign nationals in California, all fraudulently registered to vote – with most having already cast ballots in U.S. elections. Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter revealed the emergency motion for a temporary restraining order, alleging California is knowingly allowing non-citizens to participate in the state's electoral process.

Before escalating to court, McCotter presented California Secretary of State Shirley Weber and Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder Dean Logan with a thumb drive containing the names, addresses, and birth dates of over 20,000 individuals on the state's voter roll whom the DOJ identified as likely non-citizens. The federal government’s simple requests were clear: stop sending ballots to those not yet registered, segregate returned ballots from the list, prevent tabulation until citizenship verification, and then verify the status of all on the list. California's response? A dismissive "Up yours," as officials effectively rejected the DOJ's vital request, forcing the federal lawsuit.

McCotter didn't mince words: "Each of the 28 defendants charged Monday appeared on that list. California refused to look at that list. Today's charges show exactly what that refusal puts at risk. California must verify the citizenship of those more than 20,000 registrants before mail-in ballots are counted." The audacity of state officials to cry foul over methodology, while ignoring clear evidence, speaks volumes.

So, how did federal officials arrive at this damning 20,000 figure? California officials, in their characteristic obstruction, feigned ignorance, claiming they needed to know the feds' methodology. McCotter laid out the meticulous process for all to see:

So, California has a public voter roll that's available. It doesn't include everyone's detailed information, but it has a list of everyone on the voter roll. DHS has that roll, of course; it's public. They then enriched and cross-referenced that list and that information with other government databases, other public information, to add in more of the kind of personal information, identifying information, that the state of California should have been providing us from the beginning.

After this initial data aggregation, McCotter explained, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) diligently:

[S]ubtracted anybody who had any sort of evidence of actually being a citizen. So we looked at State Department records, passport records, Social Security Administration, alien files. We looked at whether someone may have gotten derivative citizenship from a parent, or maybe they were a naturalized citizen. What was left was then manually verified by a different part of the Department of Homeland Security.

The result? A critical list of "20,000 names who are likely not citizens of the United States, are on California's voter rolls, almost certainly have been sent or will soon be sent a mail-in ballot, and are not allowed to vote in federal elections, period." The DHS review is ongoing, meaning this alarming number is "likely to grow."

California Governor Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta, predictably, are attempting to spin this as an attack on "due process" and "legitimate votes." But McCotter was unequivocal: the lawsuit simply asks that "the ballots of those individuals [potential non-citizens] be segregated so we can determine whether they are citizens. If they are, great. They have a right to vote. It will be counted. If they are not, they do not have a right to vote, and they have committed a federal crime by attempting to do so." It's not about disenfranchisement; it's about safeguarding the sacred right of American citizens to vote.

Attorney General Bonta's response to the 28 charges was particularly revealing, dismissing them as a mere "drop in the bucket":

"There is is the possibility and the reality of one-off isolated incidents of voter fraud and identifying 28 potential incidences -- these are arrests and we'll see what the facts show and whether they have to drop charges or they'll be able to prosecute -- but 28 out of 23 million registered voters in California, is just a, obviously it's a drop in the bucket. Numerically, it's 0.0001% of all the registered voters in it."

Perhaps Mr. Attorney General, you should apply the same "drop in the bucket" logic to other criminal activity in California. Funny how alleged crimes only become "statistically insignificant" when they involve election integrity and expose Democrat failures.

This isn't an academic exercise. Democrats frequently parrot the line that non-citizen voting is "rare," relying on outdated studies and prosecution numbers from an era when such fraud was often ignored. Yet, the Trump DOJ, in just the last seven weeks, has "charged 113 people across 20 states with illegal voting or illegal registration." This aggressive stance is finally bringing accountability, revealing a truth long dismissed by the establishment. McCotter highlighted the undeniable impact on close elections:

"History shows that elections are often quite close. Here in California, just in 2024, the 13th congressional district was decided by less than 200 votes. We've had Senate elections, like in Minnesota - 2008 was decided by 300 votes. The presidential election of 2000, we all remember, decided by about 500 votes. So this is not some exercise in theory. This causes real damage to real elections and real damage to American citizens."

Operation Protect the Vote is a coordinated, unwavering effort by California's U.S. Attorney’s Offices to eradicate election fraud and uphold electoral integrity. All 28 individuals charged Monday are lawful permanent residents, or "green card" holders, some with additional criminal histories. For instance, prosecutor Essayli noted that defendant Omar Alexander Muñoz "has a long criminal history, including narcotics possession and grand theft convictions." The full list of those charged, detailed below, paints a stark picture of the challenge facing America First patriots dedicated to securing our elections.

Broken down by jurisdiction, the following defendants are charged in today’s takedown:

Central District of California

All the following defendants below in this jurisdiction face felony charges, including false statements in a naturalization application:

• Omar Alexander Muñoz, 72, a Belizean national living in Commerce, California, fraudulently registered to vote in September 2019, claiming his was a U.S. citizen, then voted in U.S. elections in 2020, twice in 2022, and in 2024. He also lied on his application to become a naturalized U.S. citizen when he falsely stated under oath to have never claimed to be a U.S. citizen.
• Amandeep Kaur, 30, an Indian national living in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, and who is seeking to become a U.S. citizen, fraudulently registered to vote in December 2022 and voted in the November 2024 U.S. election.
• Ana Domínguez, 60, a Salvadoran national living in Long Beach, California, fraudulently registered to vote in July 2006 and lied in her naturalization paperwork in March 2026.
• Axel Giovani Prera García, 46, a Guatemalan national and Pico Rivera, California, resident, fraudulently registered to vote in 2002 and 2005, and lied in his naturalization paperwork in June 2025.
• Flavio Alejandro Zúñiga, 43, a Mexico national and La Puente, California, resident, fraudulently registered to vote in 2003 and lied in his naturalization paperwork in February 2026.
• Butleng Taing, 43, a Cambodian national living in Long Beach, fraudulently registered to vote in July 2021, voted in the 2022 and 2024 U.S. elections, and lied on his naturalization paperwork in August 2025.
• Carlos Antonio Galeas, 54, a Honduran national and West Covina, California, resident, fraudulently registered to vote in 2012 and 2016, then lied in his naturalization paperwork in September 2018.
• Ernest Gutiérrez Ruvalcaba, 57, a Mexican national living in Wilmington, California, fraudulently registered to vote in February 2024 and voted one month later.
• Jesús Narez-Madrigal, 52, a Mexican national living in Carson, California, fraudulently registered to vote in 2014, voted in the 2024 U.S. general election, and lied in his naturalization paperwork in June 2024.
• José Antonio Bañuelos-Díaz, 42, a Mexican national and West Adams, California, resident, fraudulently registered to vote in 2007 and lied on his naturalization paperwork in March 2025.
• Muhammad Khan, 50, a Pakistani national and Anaheim, California, resident, submitted a provisional ballot in 2020 and lied on his naturalization paperwork five years later.
• Rouzbeh Seyamaknejad, 63, a Canadian national and Rancho Palos Verdes, California, resident, fraudulently registered to vote in December 2018, lied in his naturalization application in January 2024, and voted in the November 2024 U.S. election.
• Sulema de León, 35, a Mexican national and Long Beach, California, resident, fraudulently registered to vote in 2013, lied on her naturalization application in 2019, and voted in the November 2020 U.S. general election.

Eastern District of California

The following defendants are charged with voting by an alien in a federal election, a misdemeanor that carries a statutory maximum sentence of one year in federal prison:

• Maricela Nazarín González, 43, a Mexican national living in Clovis, California, registered to vote in 2020, indicating that she was a U.S. citizen, and voted in elections in 2022, twice in 2024, and 2025.
• Rony de Jesús Sicaja, 38, a Guatemalan national living in Fresno, California, fraudulently registered to vote in 2017, and voted in the June 2022 primary election and the November 2024 general election in the United States.
• Camino Giles Jiménez, 51, a Mexican national living in Kerman, California, knowingly voted in three U.S. elections despite knowing he is a noncitizen, the most recent election being the June 2026 primary.
• Juan Antonio Rivas García, 46, a Mexican national and Sacramento, California, resident, fraudulently registered to vote in 2018 and 2020, both times falsely asserting under oath that he was a U.S. citizen. Rivas voted in the 2022 and 2024 U.S. elections.
• Giezell Viduya Adawag, 41, a Philippines national and Vacaville, California, resident, fraudulently registered to vote the day of the November 2024 general election, falsely certified that she was a U.S. citizen, and voted in the election that day.
• Kamlesh Navnitlal Shah, 67, an Indian national living in Sacramento, California, fraudulently registered to vote on the day of the November 2024 general election and voted that day. He is charged via information.

Northern District of California

The following defendants are charged with attempted procurement of naturalization contrary to law, false statement under oath in any matter relating to naturalization or citizenship, and voting by an alien:

• Verónica Bullene, 43, a.k.a. “Verónica Hernández Martínez,” a Mexican national living in Petaluma, California, made false statements on her naturalization application that she had never claimed to be a U.S. citizen when, in fact, she did so under penalty of perjury to register to vote in 2022 and 2023 then voted in 2024.
• David Shapiro, 41, a Georgian national living in San Jose, California, fraudulently registered to vote in 2024 and later voted in a U.S. election, and made false statements on his naturalization application that he had never claimed to be a U.S. citizen.
• Moe Thida Lwin, 57, a Myanmar national and Daly City, California, resident, fraudulently registered to vote in 2024 and then proceeded to illegally vote in a U.S. citizen. She made false statements on her naturalization paperwork as well.
• Manakotau Mataele Finau, 61, a Tongan national and Hayward, California, resident, fraudulently registered to vote in the 2024 election then vote, then lied about it in naturalization paperwork.
• Maribel del Carmen Garcés Barriga, 62, an Ecuadoran national and San Francisco, California, resident, made false statements in her naturalization paperwork that she never claimed U.S. citizenship and had never voted in a U.S. election or had registered to vote. In fact, Garcés fraudulently registered to vote in 2024 and proceeded to vote in a U.S. election.

Southern District of California

The following defendants are charged with false claim to citizenship to vote, unlawful attempted procurement of naturalization, and false statement under oath in matter relating to naturalization or citizenship:

• José Probitsado Amaro, 51, a citizen of the Philippines living in National City, California, fraudulently registered to vote by falsely claiming to be a U.S. citizen. He then cast a ballot in the November 2024 general election and made false statements during his naturalization interview, denying that he had ever claimed U.S. citizenship and misrepresenting his voting history.
• Jennifer Jung, 31, a Canadian national living in San Diego, California, fraudulently registered to vote by falsely claiming to be a U.S. citizen. She then cast a ballot in the November 2024 general election and made false statements during her naturalization interview, denying that she had ever claimed U.S. citizenship and misrepresenting her voting history.
• Erick Ronaldo Soto Mendizábal, 64, a citizen of Guatemala and former Oceanside, California, resident now living in Moreno Valley, California, fraudulently registered to vote by falsely claiming to be a U.S. citizen. He then cast a ballot in the November 2024 general election and made false statements in his naturalization application, denying that he had ever claimed U.S. citizenship and misrepresenting his voting history.
• Pamele Arbués Line, 56, a citizen of the Philippines living in Escondido, California, registered to vote, cast a ballot in the November 2024 general election, and made false statements in her naturalization interview, denying that she had ever claimed U.S. citizenship and misrepresenting her voting history.

The ongoing revelations from the Trump DOJ underscore a fundamental truth: election integrity is not a partisan issue, but a cornerstone of our republic. The relentless efforts by the America First movement to ensure every legal vote counts, and no illegal vote is cast, are critical. California's stonewalling and the Democrats' casual dismissal of such widespread fraud are a stark reminder of the forces working against true electoral accountability. For the sake of American values and the future of our nation, this fight for secure elections must continue, unyielding and uncompromised.