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Tuesday, October 20, 2026

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Justice Department · Tuesday, October 20, 2026

Justice Department charges 28 green-card holders with illegal voting

The File desk · Oct. 20, 2026, 6:44 a.m. ET

Confirmed2 primary sources

Status

Confirmed from the Justice Department release, re-opened for this edition. The charges are allegations. All 28 are lawful permanent residents. Eleven were arrested Monday. No result of those court appearances was found.
  • Confirmed
    The department said agents in California arrested 11 of 28 lawful permanent residents charged in criminal complaints with election-related crimes.
  • Confirmed
    The same day, Gaye Tyndale-Simpson, 55, pleaded guilty in New Jersey to voting in the November 2024 federal election. Sentencing is Feb. 24, 2027.
Federal agents in California on Monday arrested 11 of 28 lawful permanent residents, the people who hold green cards, charged with election crimes. The Justice Department says they are not citizens and are not allowed to vote. The charges are allegations.1
The release says the charges include false statements in a naturalization application and fraudulent voter registration. Both, it says, are felonies with a maximum of five years in federal prison. Some defendants, in the Eastern District, face the misdemeanor of in a federal election, which the release says carries a maximum of one year. That offense is . The department said the people arrested Monday were expected in federal court that afternoon, and that no pleas would be taken then. This desk didn't find how those hearings came out.1
Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter said each of the 28 “appears on the list of more than 20,000 likely noncitizen registrants we provided to California election officials last week,” and that “California refused to look at that list.” First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said “California is mailing ballots to noncitizens.” Those sentences are the department's. The release ties the cases to , the lawsuit filed after the state declined to set the ballots aside. This story doesn't count the votes or say any result changed.1
One allegation, as an example and only an allegation: a 72-year-old Belizean national in Commerce is accused of registering in 2019 and voting in 2020, twice in 2022, and in 2024. A woman in Vacaville and a man in Sacramento are accused of registering on Election Day 2024 and voting that day. The release lists more names. This story doesn't print a district-by-district count.1
The same day, in a separate case, Gaye Tyndale-Simpson, 55, a citizen of Jamaica who has never been a U.S. citizen, pleaded guilty in Trenton to in the November 2024 election. Sentencing is set for Feb. 24, 2027. The New Jersey release says that charge carries up to six months in prison and a $100,000 fine.2
Why it matters (Estimate). Green-card holders live here legally and can't vote in federal elections. The department is using these cases to press California to check citizenship on a list of more than 20,000 registrations before mail ballots are counted, ahead of Nov. 3. The number of people charged is small next to the state's electorate. The fight that could change how ballots are handled is the lawsuit over who checks the rolls, not the 28 complaints by themselves.1
The department's boilerplate is on the California release: “A complaint, indictment, and information merely contain accusations.”
How we know

Notes

  1. 1.Justice Department Office of Public Affairs, “Justice Department Charges 28 Foreign Nationals in California for Election Crimes,” Oct. 19, 2026, re-opened for this edition. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-charges-28-foreign-nationals-california-election-crimes “Federal law enforcement throughout California today arrested 11 foreign nationals living in the United States who are among 28 total charged in criminal complaints.” “All 28 foreign nationals charged are lawful permanent residents (LPRs), or ‘green card’ holders.” False statements in a naturalization application and fraudulent voter registration “are felonies that carry a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison.” Eastern District defendants are charged with “ in a federal election, a misdemeanor that carries a statutory maximum sentence of one year.” The release names that offense and doesn't print a section number on the page this desk read. is the federal statute for in a federal election. “The defendants arrested today are expected to make their initial appearances this afternoon in U.S. District Courts. No pleas will be taken today.” Trent McCotter: “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.” Bill Essayli: “California is mailing ballots to noncitizens, and they are refusing to comply with federal law.” “On Oct. 13, the federal government provided a list of these individuals to California … California declined to assist.” The civil case is . Omar Alexander Muñoz, 72, of Commerce, is accused of registering in September 2019 and voting in 2020, twice in 2022, and in 2024. Giezell Viduya Adawag of Vacaville and Kamlesh Navnitlal Shah of Sacramento are accused of registering on Election Day 2024 and voting that day. “A complaint, indictment, and information merely contain accusations. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.” Charges are allegations; defendants are presumed innocent. This story doesn't print a per-district tally.
  2. 2.Justice Department, “Illegal Alien Admits to Illegally Voting in Federal Election in New Jersey,” Oct. 19, 2026, re-opened for this edition. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/illegal-alien-admits-illegally-voting-federal-election-new-jersey Gaye Tyndale-Simpson, 55, “is a citizen of Jamaica and has never been a citizen of the United States.” She pleaded guilty to one count of in the November 2024 general election, before U.S. Magistrate Rukhsanah L. Singh in Trenton. “The charge carries a maximum penalty of up to 6 months in prison and a $100,000 fine. Sentencing is scheduled before Judge Singh on Feb. 24, 2027.” The headline's phrase “illegal alien” is the department's. The story uses the release's sentence that she has never been a U.S. citizen.

What is still unknown or disputed

  • The release doesn't say which 11 of the 28 were arrested.
  • The outcome of Monday's initial appearances wasn't found.
  • A response from the California secretary of state wasn't fetched.
  • The department doesn't claim that any vote changed an election result, and this story doesn't.

Primary sources

Every claim in this story is drawn from the documents below. If a fetch failed, that is recorded on the card.

  1. Source 1

    Justice Department Charges 28 Foreign Nationals in California for Election Crimes

    U.S. Department of Justice · October 19, 2026

    Federal law enforcement throughout California today arrested 11 foreign nationals living in the United States who are among 28 total charged in criminal complaints. All 28 foreign nationals charged are lawful permanent residents (LPRs), or green card holders.

    https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-charges-28-foreign-nationals-california-election-crimes

  2. Source 2

    Illegal Alien Admits to Illegally Voting in Federal Election in New Jersey

    U.S. Department of Justice · October 19, 2026

    Gaye Tyndale-Simpson, 55, is a citizen of Jamaica and has never been a citizen of the United States. Sentencing is scheduled before Judge Singh on Feb. 24, 2027.

    https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/illegal-alien-admits-illegally-voting-federal-election-new-jersey

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