‘Operation Protect the Vote’: Feds arrest 11 foreign nationals linked to alleged voter fraud
With the midterms barely two weeks away, federal law enforcement is taking action to crack down on potential cases of voter fraud. This week, California is in the spotlight.
by Summer Lane | October 19, 2026
The U.S. Department of Justice on Monday announced a coordinated effort among the four California-based U.S. attorney’s offices, “Operation Protect the Vote,” which has resulted in the arrest of 11 foreign nationals.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Central District of California alleged that these individuals may have registered to vote in U.S. elections or electoral contests “in which most of them cast illegal and fraudulently obtained ballots.”
The 11 arrests on Monday appear to bring the total number of foreign nationals arrested in this operation to 28.
“Every illegal vote cancels out the vote of a lawful American citizen,” said Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter in a statement.
He continued, “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. California refused to look at that list. Today’s charges show exactly what that refusal puts at risk. California must verify the citizenship of those more than 20,000 registrants before mail-in ballots are counted.”
Last week, the DOJ sued the state of California over its alleged refusal to review over 20,000 individuals on its state voter rolls whom the agency, working with the Department of Homeland Security, assessed were likely non-citizens.
Monday’s sweep in California charges the arrested foreign nationals with making false statements in a naturalization application or fraudulent voter registration – felony charges, according to the DOJ.
“More arrests this morning tied to alleged voter fraud,” said FBI Director Kash Patel on X. “Protecting American elections from criminal interference remains a top priority of this @FBI. We will use every legal resource to hold those who violate our election laws accountable and defend every American citizen’s constitutional right to vote.”
The 11 individuals highlighted in the Central District bust included foreign nationals from Belize, El Salvador, Pakistan, Mexico, Canada, Honduras, Guatemala, India, and Cambodia.
Photo: Pixabay
