The Department of Justice has filed criminal charges against 48 foreign nationals accused of illegally voting in American elections and fraudulently registering to cast ballots. The defendants are distributed across Nevada, Pennsylvania, California, Florida, and New York.
According to information provided by the Justice Department, all but one of the accused hold lawful permanent resident status in the United States. A single illegal immigrant faces charges among the group.
Among those charged is Alfredo Santiesteban, a 73-year-old Cuban national who allegedly cast a ballot in the 2024 general election. Several defendants face additional charges for allegedly providing false testimony on their naturalization applications when asked under oath whether they had ever claimed to be United States citizens.
The charges reveal a pattern of repeated illegal voting across multiple election cycles. Omar Alexander Muñoz, a 72-year-old lawful permanent resident from Belize, allegedly registered to vote in September 2019 while falsely claiming American citizenship. Prosecutors contend he then voted in the 2020 election, cast ballots twice in 2022, and voted again in 2024. He subsequently allegedly provided false statements on his application for naturalized citizenship.
In another California case, Maricela Nazarín González, a 43-year-old lawful permanent resident from Mexico, allegedly registered to vote in 2020 and proceeded to vote in 2022, twice in 2024, and once in 2025.
New York prosecutors charged Eoin Cranney, a 35-year-old Irish-born lawful permanent resident, with submitting a fraudulent voter registration application and casting a ballot in the 2024 federal general election. The Justice Department reports that Cranney admitted to federal agents that he was not a citizen, that he registered to vote in 2024, and that he voted in that election despite knowing he lacked citizenship status.
Maribel del Carmen Garcés Barriga, a 62-year-old lawful permanent resident from Ecuador, allegedly registered to vote in 2024 and cast a ballot in a United States election. She then allegedly provided false information on her citizenship application by denying that she had ever voted or registered to vote.
These prosecutions represent part of a broader Trump administration initiative to address voter fraud ahead of the midterm elections. Beyond bringing criminal charges against noncitizens for illegal voting and registration, the federal government has undertaken efforts to audit state voter registration rolls. These efforts have encountered resistance from several states under Democratic control.
Earlier this month, the Justice Department filed suit against California seeking to prevent the state from counting mail-in ballots from individuals the federal government has identified as likely noncitizens until their citizenship status can be verified. This legal action followed the federal government’s provision of a list containing names of alleged noncitizens who had been sent mail-in ballots for the November 3 election to Los Angeles County officials.
The Trump administration provided California officials with 48 hours to review the names and sequester ballots from any individual whose citizenship could not be confirmed. California officials declined to access the list, which had been provided on a password-protected thumb drive.
These developments underscore the administration’s commitment to enforcing citizenship requirements for voting and maintaining the integrity of federal elections.
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