Federal agents collared suspects in a slew of voter fraud cases Monday morning, chasing targets across California drawn from a list of more than 20,000 suspected noncitizens in the state who allegedly registered to vote in next month’s midterm election.
Under the effort dubbed “Operation Protect the Vote,” law enforcement authorities sought more than two-dozen noncitizens charged with fraudulently registering to vote in US elections, in which most of them allegedly cast illegal ballots. Authorities called it the biggest such takedown in the state’s history.
The California Post was there as Homeland Security Investigations swooped on the City of Commerce home of Alexander Muñoz around 6 a.m.
The agents pounded on the front door, calling for Muñoz to come out. He emerged and was taken into custody. A family member ridiculed the armed uniformed agents who led Muñoz away. “You all need to get a job,” he said.
Authorities say Muñoz, 72, a Belizean national, fraudulently registered to vote in September 2019, claiming he was a US citizen, according to prosecutors. He then voted in US elections in 2020, twice in 2022, and in 2024.
Muñoz also lied on his application to become a naturalized US citizen, when he falsely stated under oath to have never claimed to be a citizen, investigators say. He faces felony charges, including making false statements in a naturalization application.
Muñoz has previous convictions in the US for grand theft and narcotics possession.
LA’s top federal prosecutor Bill Essayli said the charges brought against Muñoz and other suspects sought Monday buttress the federal government’s claims of widespread voter fraud 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.
Essayli said the state merely requires wannabe voters to attest to US citizenship and does not ask for documentation, leaving ballot rolls open to fraud. State election officials’ claims of checking for citizenship are false, he said.
“There’s a lot of misinformation and disinformation being spread by the deceivers up there in Sacramento,” said Essayli. “The governor and the Secretary of State, and the Attorney General. They’re lying.”
In addition to Muñoz, federal agents sought more than two-dozen addition individuals accused of similar crimes.
In all, 28 alleged noncitizens were busted for voter fraud in the operation and face a variety of criminal and misdemeanor charges.
Others arrested Monday include José Probitsado Amaro, 51, a citizen of the Philippines living in San Deigo County’s National City. Investigators say Amaro fraudulently registered to vote by falsely claiming to be a US citizen.
Amaro 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, according to investigators.
Also arrested Monday was Moe Thida Lwin, 57, a Myanmar national and resident of Daly City outside San Francisco. Authorities say Lwin fraudulently registered to vote in 2024 and then proceeded to illegally vote in a US election.
Lwin also made false statements on naturalization paperwork, according to investigators.
The arrest of alleged noncitizens was the latest escalation in a federal effort to tackle electoral wrongdoing in California, something local officials have denied is a widespread problem.
The Trump administration last week filed a bombshell lawsuit against the state for failing to review a list of more than 20,000 suspected noncitizens in the state who allegedly registered to vote in next month’s midterm election.
The suit filed Thursday came two days after Justice Department officials ordered the state’s election bosses to review the list naming thousands of alleged noncitizens believed to be on California’s voter rolls — giving them 48 hours to comply.
DOJ lawyers argued in the suit that the federal government has an obligation to intervene to prevent the state from permitting noncitizens to vote in federal elections. Under federal law, only US citizens are permitted to vote in such elections.
Federal officials supplied Los Angeles County with a password-protected thumb drive identifying suspected noncitizens who were sent mail-in ballots, according to letters sent Tuesday to Secretary of State Shirley Weber and LA County Clerk Dean Logan.
Acting Deputy Attorney General R. Trent McCotter warned Logan and Weber in the letter that they would face legal challenge if they failed to review the list in time. A representative for Logan confirmed receipt of the letter.
Gov. Gavin Newsom blasted the effort as an attempt to interfere with California’s voting 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 on X. “Courts have made clear the federal government has no role in running state elections.”
US Attorney General Todd Blanche defended the lawsuit.
“State-facilitated voter fraud is unacceptable in the United States of America,” Blanche said. “If found responsible in a court of law, the State of California will have seriously undermined confidence in our electoral system.”
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