Federal Prosecutors Charge Six Green Card Holders in California Over Alleged Illegal Voting
Federal prosecutors in Los Angeles have charged six green card holders with making false statements on applications for US citizenship, according to the Justice Department. Bill Essayli, the top federal prosecutor in Los Angeles, announced the prosecutions on Monday, November 2. Each defendant faces a single charge.
Green card holders are lawful permanent residents. They live in the United States legally but are not citizens, and they are barred from voting in US elections.
According to the Guardian's report, affidavits, which are sworn written statements filed with the charges, allege that the six registered to vote unlawfully. They then allegedly said on later citizenship applications that they had never previously registered. The initial complaints were written by agents of the Department of Homeland Security, and they state that the defendants cast ballots in recent years. The defendants are not facing charges specifically related to fraudulent voting.
Prosecutors said the six people originally come from Mexico, Israel, the Philippines, Canada and Iran. One of them, a 52-year-old man from Canada, is accused of voting twice and then seeking to cancel his registration. He has lived in the United States for more than 40 years. Five of the six have been arrested. Prosecutors said the defendants face a maximum of five years in prison.
The defendants have not been formally indicted, meaning a grand jury has not yet issued a formal charging document. ABC10 reported that the six people, from across California, face federal charges alleging they illegally voted in the 2024 presidential election.
The cases are part of a broader effort. The Justice Department filed similar illegal-voting charges against 28 people across California last month. It is also pursuing a lawsuit that seeks to force California election officials to set aside roughly 20,000 ballots. Federal prosecutors say those ballots may belong to noncitizens who registered fraudulently. The department has said the disputed ballots should not be counted until California can confirm the citizenship status of the people who cast them.
On Monday, the US Supreme Court rejected the Trump administration's appeals in the dispute over California ballots.
