The Justice Department charged 28 foreign nationals in California with illegally registering to vote, part of President Trump’s push as state officials refuse to act on a federal list.
Federal prosecutors on Monday announced charges against 28 foreign nationals in California accused of illegally registering to vote, with 11 already taken into federal custody and 17 more set for arrest in the near future.
Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter cast the cases as the latest step in President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal noncitizen voting, coming about two weeks before the 2026 midterm elections and days after the administration sued to block California from counting certain mail-in ballots.
Daily Mail reported that Justice Department officials cross-checked Department of Homeland Security information against voter lists, then moved on people who appeared as noncitizens on the rolls.
McCotter said every defendant charged Monday was already flagged on a roster the department handed California election officials last week.
He put the point in plain terms:
"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,"
That list is the same pool the Trump administration used in court last week, when it sought a temporary block on California counting mail-in ballots submitted by 20,000 people the DOJ identified as “likely aliens” registered in the state.
McCotter went further on the scale of the problem. The administration had previously pointed to as many as 190,000 people who could be illegally on California’s voter registration list. He called 190,000 the “ceiling” and 20,000 the “floor.”
DOJ officials say California would not review the names and has refused to give the department access to its voter rolls. McCotter framed Monday’s charges as proof of what that stance costs.
"California refused to look at that list. Today's charges show exactly what that refusal puts at risk."
In the department’s account, the state is trying to challenge the federal work product without opening the rolls the feds need to check. The Justice Department is not treating that as a paperwork dispute. It is treating it as a live election-integrity failure with ballots on the line.
McCotter tied the charging decision to a simple rule for federal elections:
"This DOJ will not look the other way when it comes to combating fraud"
Eleven of the 28 defendants are already in federal custody. Prosecutors say the other 17 will be arrested “in the near future.”
The announcement landed on Monday, roughly two weeks before the 2026 midterms. Last week’s lawsuit sought to stop California from counting mail-in ballots tied to the 20,000-person “likely aliens” list while that fight continues.
The mechanism described is straightforward. Homeland Security data flagged noncitizens. DOJ lawyers matched those records to voter registration files. Names that lined up became the charging targets and the basis for the broader list sent to Sacramento.
California remains the flashpoint. The Golden State is where the 28 defendants allegedly registered, where the 20,000-name list was delivered, and where the administration has homed in amid wider claims of voter fraud. McCotter’s message is that ignoring the list does not make the risk disappear, it leaves unlawful registrations in place while voters head to the polls.
No defendant names, specific statutes, or docket numbers were released in the public account of the charges. The department has not published the underlying indictments or the full DHS match methodology in the material made available with the announcement. What it has made clear is the count, the custody status, the list California received, and the state’s refusal to examine it.
One side is matching federal immigration records to state rolls and filing charges when the names line up. The other side, on the DOJ’s telling, will not look at the list and will not open the rolls. Monday’s 28 cases, the 11 already in custody, and the 17 still to be picked up are the concrete result of that split.
Election integrity is not a slogan when noncitizens show up on the registration list and prosecutors can name the number. It is a basic duty. California can keep refusing the file, or it can do the work required to keep illegal ballots out of a federal election, and voters can judge which path protects the law.
