Justice Department targets and charges 28 alleged noncitizen California voters

The Justice Department (DOJ) targeted and charged 28 alleged California voters who are not citizens, the department said in a press release Monday.

The DOJ said in the press release that on Monday, federal authorities in California arrested 11 non-Americans residing in the country “who are among 28 total charged in criminal complaints with federal crimes.”

The crimes, according to the DOJ, include fraudulently registering to vote in U.S. elections, with the majority of the 28 voting with “illegal and fraudulently obtained ballots.”

“Every illegal vote cancels out the vote of a lawful American citizen,” Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter said in the release.

“Each of the 28 defendants charged today appears on the list of more than 20,000 likely noncitizen registrants we provided to California election officials last week,” he added.

The DOJ said in the release that each of the 28 hold green cards and “knowingly and willfully lied under oath” when filling out voter registration applications about having U.S. citizenship.

The Trump administration has cracked down intensely on immigration in President Trump’s second term, to much backlash. Federal immigration authorities have been involved in multiple incidents in which people have been wounded or killed since Trump’s return to the White House.

Last Thursday, the DOJ sued California after giving the state a USB drive and urging that within two days, it compare 20,000 names on its data rolls with information provided by the Department of Homeland Security.

The DOJ sent a letter to Golden State and local elections officials last Tuesday, warning of legal action if they didn’t compare the data. Per a copy of the letter provided by Los Angeles County, it included a handwritten password for the files on the drive.