Six California green card holders charged as Justice Department presses election challenge

Federal prosecutors in California announced cases against six lawful permanent residents on Monday, November 2, expanding the Trump administration’s election enforcement campaign a day before the midterms. Bill Essayli, the top federal prosecutor in Los Angeles and a close presidential ally, said five of the defendants had been arrested.

Each defendant faces one count of making false statements on a naturalization application. Authorities allege they registered to vote unlawfully and subsequently denied having registered when applying for citizenship. Although the complaints also allege that they cast ballots in recent years, none faces a charge specifically for fraudulent voting. All six hold green cards, giving them lawful immigration status but no right to vote.

Prosecutors said the defendants originally came from Mexico, Israel, the Philippines, Canada and Iran. They face prison terms of up to five years. Department of Homeland Security agents prepared the initial complaints, and no formal indictments have been issued. Whether the defendants had secured lawyers was not immediately clear, and the Los Angeles federal public defender’s office did not immediately answer an inquiry.

One complaint alleges that a 52-year-old Canadian who has lived in the United States for more than four decades voted unlawfully twice before trying to cancel his registration. Another accuses a 43-year-old from the Philippines, who has lived in the country since 1992, of voting several times since 2020. Noncitizen voting is extremely rare, and experts say confusion usually accounts for noncitizens appearing on voter rolls.

The prosecutions accompany a Justice Department lawsuit seeking to have approximately 20,000 California ballots set aside until state officials verify the voters’ citizenship. Multiple judges have rejected the department’s efforts, and the US supreme court rejected the administration’s appeals on Monday. California election leaders say the federal list and methodology are unreliable, and that carrying out the demands during an election would be logistically impossible and could disenfranchise citizens.

Essayli said the newly arrested defendants appeared on that federal list. An immigrants’ rights organization challenging the government’s use of immigration data said in a weekend court filing that more than 40% of the flagged names could not be located on California’s voter rolls. County officials also reported numerous errors. The list represents a small share of the state’s more than 23 million registered voters. Essayli acknowledged on Monday that the third-party databases used to compile it might contain inaccuracies, while defending the government’s confidence in its findings.

The department brought similar cases against 28 people across California last month. Experts have questioned the timing, saying federal prosecutors traditionally avoid actions that could appear politically motivated or interfere with an approaching election. Former prosecutors and defense lawyers also criticized the publicity surrounding arrests, including footage of a 72-year-old defendant that the department incorporated into a promotional video. Democrats accuse the department of undermining confidence in election results and exaggerating the prevalence of voter fraud.

On Friday, a federal judge blocked the administration from continuing to threaten election officials with prosecution over processing allegedly fraudulent ballots, finding that the pressure forced workers to choose between federal demands and their duties. Separately, a judge ruled last week that Essayli was unlawfully leading the US attorney’s office because he had not been formally appointed and confirmed by the Senate. The Justice Department is appealing that decision.