THE DAILY BS: HOW MUCH CAN YOU HANDLE?
SPARE ME THE BS (I’ve got things to do).
- The Justice Department announced federal charges against 28 noncitizens in California on Monday, with 11 arrested in a coordinated statewide operation.
- All 28 defendants are lawful permanent residents, and prosecutors allege that most cast ballots in U.S. elections despite lacking citizenship.
- The California operation follows another 16 election-crime cases announced October 16, while a Jamaican national pleaded guilty Monday to illegally voting in New Jersey.
LAY IT ON ME (I’ve got time).
For years, Washington has argued about noncitizen voting as though the entire subject were an endless cable-news panel discussion.
Federal prosecutors, meanwhile, have been busy preparing actual criminal cases.
On Monday, the Justice Department announced charges against 28 foreign nationals in California as part of a coordinated election-fraud operation. Eleven were arrested, and federal authorities say most of those charged had cast ballots in American elections despite not being U.S. citizens.
The operation has a name, too: “Operation Protect the Vote.”
Not particularly subtle. But federal law enforcement generally isn’t in the business of hiring Madison Avenue to name its investigations.
All 28 defendants are lawful permanent residents, commonly known as green-card holders. That means they are legally living in the United States but are not citizens and cannot vote in federal elections.
The operation involved all four California-based U.S. Attorney’s Offices, with charges involving alleged fraudulent registration, illegal voting and, in some cases, false statements during the naturalization process.
Among the defendants is Maricela Nazarín González, 43, a Mexican national living in Clovis. Prosecutors allege that she registered to vote in 2020 while indicating she was a U.S. citizen, then voted in elections in 2022, twice in 2024 and again in 2025.
Rony de Jesús Sicaja, 38, a Guatemalan national living in Fresno, allegedly registered fraudulently in 2017 and voted in the June 2022 primary and November 2024 general election.
Another defendant, Camino Giles Jiménez, 51, a Mexican national living in Kerman, allegedly voted in three U.S. elections despite knowing he wasn’t a citizen. His most recent alleged vote was in California’s June 2026 primary.
So these aren’t all allegations about paperwork gathering dust in some election office. Prosecutors are describing ballots they say were actually cast.
And California isn’t the only place where the DOJ has been filing cases.
On October 16, the department announced charges involving 16 noncitizens in North Carolina, New York and Idaho.
Ten of those cases came from North Carolina and involved alleged voting in the 2024 election.
One defendant, Eduardd Omar Majano Sosa, 22, an undocumented immigrant from El Salvador, was charged with falsely claiming citizenship to vote and voting as a noncitizen.
Others charged in the sweep were lawful permanent residents from countries including Britain, Bosnia and Canada.
The Justice Department has been announcing election-crime cases throughout October, including allegations involving fraudulent voter registration, false citizenship claims and illegal ballots.
And at least one case has already moved beyond the charging stage.
On Monday, federal prosecutors in New Jersey announced that Gaye Tyndale-Simpson, a 55-year-old Jamaican citizen living in Bridgewater, pleaded guilty to illegally voting in a federal election.
According to the DOJ, Tyndale-Simpson admitted voting in the November 2024 general election despite never having been a U.S. citizen.
Her sentencing is scheduled for February 24, 2027.
That’s an important distinction in this growing collection of cases: Most of the newly announced defendants are accused of crimes and have not been convicted. Tyndale-Simpson, however, has entered a guilty plea.
The larger political argument remains unsettled. Democrats and election officials have repeatedly maintained that noncitizen voting is rare, while Republicans have pushed for stronger citizenship verification and more aggressive enforcement.
These prosecutions establish that federal investigators have identified specific cases they believe warrant criminal charges. They do not, by themselves, establish the overall frequency of noncitizen voting or demonstrate that an election outcome was changed.
But the latest DOJ announcements put concrete names, jurisdictions and alleged ballots into a debate that often gets conducted entirely in slogans.
And with the November midterms approaching, federal prosecutors are making clear that their election investigations are not limited to checking voter-registration forms and issuing strongly worded press releases.
Some defendants are now facing federal judges.
Others have already been arrested.
And in New Jersey, one has pleaded guilty.
DBS WIRE SOURCES (I’ve got all day).
- DOJ — Justice Department charges 28 foreign nationals in California for election crimes
- DOJ — Charges involving 16 noncitizens for illegal voting, October 16
- DOJ — North Carolina prosecutors unveil ten indictments alleging noncitizen voting
- DOJ — Jamaican national admits illegally voting in federal election
- DOJ — Earlier nationwide election-crime charges announced October 5
