ICE and DOJ Arrest Dozens More Noncitizens in Nationwide Illegal Voting Crackdown Days Before Midterms

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Justice announced a new round of arrests and charges against noncitizens accused of illegally registering to vote and casting ballots in U.S. elections, days before the midterms. The actions form part of a broader government-wide enforcement effort that officials say has identified hundreds of cases involving both illegal aliens and lawful permanent residents.

ICE stated that it has arrested dozens of individuals nationwide in connection with alleged voter fraud and election-related offenses. In an October 29 release, the agency said the cases include numerous instances in which aliens admitted to unlawfully registering to vote or casting ballots. Acting ICE Director David J. Venturella said the arrests “are the result of careful, methodical investigations” conducted with federal, state, and local partners. “American elections must be conducted in accordance with the law,” he said. “Every eligible voter deserves an election process that follows the law.”

A companion ICE release listed 18 examples among ongoing investigations. They include Aden Hassan Aden, a criminal alien from Somalia who allegedly voted in the 2020 federal election and has convictions for domestic violence, drug possession, and larceny; Mai Tran, a criminal illegal alien from Vietnam who allegedly voted in the 2024 federal election and has convictions for fraud, drug possession, selling cocaine, burglary, larceny, and illegal use of credit cards; and Phath Vorn, a criminal illegal alien from Cambodia who allegedly voted in a 1992 federal election and has convictions for assault with intent to murder, assault with a dangerous weapon, and possession of a weapon. Other listed cases involve nationals from Honduras, Mexico, Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Germany, with many also carrying prior convictions or charges for offenses including DUI, battery, fraud, sex offenses, and resisting officers.

DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said in a related statement that “the patriots of ICE have arrested dozens of non-citizens who illegally voted in American elections. Some of them have criminal histories that include assault with a dangerous weapon, domestic violence, drug trafficking, burglary, and driving under the influence.” He added that “the Trump Administration will not allow illegal aliens to steal the votes of hardworking American citizens. American elections are for Americans only.”

A separate ICE release dated around October 30 listed additional cases, including Jose Zapete-Quinonez, a Guatemalan national with a final order of removal who allegedly voted in 2021; Puja Bagga, a lawful permanent resident from India who allegedly registered unlawfully and voted three times (in a local election in 2015 and state elections in 2022 and 2024); and Christian Lawrence of Liberia, who has a 2013 conviction for failure to register as a sex offender and allegedly voted in 2012 and 2016. Other examples in that release involve individuals from Jamaica, Canada, Russia, Cuba, Nicaragua, Ghana, Haiti, the Philippines, Peru, Guatemala, the Bahamas, and Mexico, some with final orders of removal or prior convictions for offenses ranging from drug sales to armed robbery and strangulation.

On the same day as the ICE announcement, the Justice Department said it had charged another 18 people in North Carolina with illegally voting in the 2024 election. Nine were charged in the Eastern District, five in the Middle District, and four in the Western District. These indictments bring the statewide total charged this year to 30. Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter said, “Illegal voting is just that: illegal. If you’re not an American citizen, you cannot vote in our federal elections. We want to prevent illegal voting from occurring, which is why we’ve now charged 30 people just in North Carolina who have violated our laws by illegally registering to vote and illegally voting. We need to preserve the integrity of the ballot box by ensuring only those eligible are casting ballots.”

The North Carolina cases include Selvin Porfidio Gonzalez Escobar, 43, described as an illegal alien from Guatemala in Robeson County, charged with falsely claiming citizenship to vote and voting by an alien after registering in 2020 and voting in the 2020 and 2024 general elections. Most of the others are lawful permanent residents from countries including Italy, Kenya, Bermuda, Singapore, Jamaica, Colombia, the United Kingdom, Greece, and Canada. Several face charges of falsely claiming U.S. citizenship to register and vote. U.S. Attorney Ellis Boyle for the Eastern District of North Carolina said the indictments send “an unmistakable message ahead of the 2026 election: if you vote illegally, we are looking, we will find out, and we will prosecute you.”

These announcements follow earlier DOJ actions, including charges against 16 aliens across multiple states in mid-October and a California sweep in which 28 lawful permanent residents were charged in connection with alleged illegal registration or voting. DHS has previously stated that it is investigating 1,620 cases of noncitizen voter fraud, has made 151 arrests in related matters, and is reviewing an additional roughly 300,000 cases drawn from state voter rolls by cross-checking them against immigration status records for illegal aliens, lawful permanent residents, and citizens. Secretary Mullin has described the process as “scrubbing” the rolls for comparison.

ICE Public Affairs Assistant Director Micah Bock said the agency has “uncovered hundreds of cases of election fraud and the extent of this problem continues to expand. Each vote by a criminal illegal alien cancels out a vote of an American citizen.” Officials said the effort is coordinated across federal agencies and will continue to pursue cases where evidence supports charges. No broader national total of recent arrests was specified beyond the “dozens” cited in the ICE releases.