Federal immigration authorities have identified additional foreign nationals accused of casting ballots in American elections, including a Mexican green card holder suspected of voting 15 times, as the Justice Department expands investigations into noncitizen voting ahead of Tuesday’s midterm elections.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
WASHINGTON — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has identified 19 additional foreign nationals accused of illegally voting in American elections, including lawful permanent residents and individuals living in the country unlawfully, as the Trump administration intensifies its nationwide election fraud investigations before the Nov. 3 midterm elections.
The cases involve alleged voting violations in federal, state and local elections dating back more than two decades. Some suspects have surrendered to federal investigators, while others were arrested during immigration enforcement operations, according to documents obtained by the Daily Caller.
In an Oct. 30 investigation detailing the cases, the publication identified individuals from Mexico, Haiti, Somalia, Lithuania, Germany, El Salvador and several other countries who allegedly registered or cast ballots despite lacking U.S. citizenship.
ICE Public Affairs Assistant Director Micah Bock condemned the alleged violations and pledged continued enforcement.
“The pervasive nature of illegal alien election fraud should concern every American,” Bock said.
“Every illegal vote cancels out a vote of an American citizen. Each and every illegal who voted must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
“We will end this madness. American elections are for American citizens, period.”
The allegations come amid a broader federal effort to identify noncitizens on voter rolls and investigate suspected violations of election law. However, the arrests and investigations do not establish that widespread noncitizen voting has occurred or affected election outcomes.
One of the cases involves Jesus Lopez, a Mexican citizen and lawful permanent resident accused of voting illegally in 15 elections between 2000 and 2024.
According to the documents, Lopez participated in state general elections, primary elections and municipal contests despite not being a U.S. citizen.
He surrendered to Homeland Security Investigations agents in September.
Federal authorities have not publicly established whether Lopez has been convicted of an election offense in connection with the alleged voting history.
Another suspect, Sirena Prosper, a Haitian national, is accused of voting in the 2024 presidential election despite being subject to a final order of removal.
ICE said Prosper previously was convicted twice of burglary, as well as larceny and resisting an officer.
Prosper’s immigration case has also attracted local attention in South Florida, where family members protested her detention.
According to WSVN’s reporting on her detention, Prosper’s family said she came to the United States as an infant and has spent virtually her entire life in the country.
She disputed the government’s characterization of her criminal history during an interview from immigration custody.
“No, I’m not a criminal. I have one charge, and that was 25 years ago, and I did my duty. I did my time,” Prosper said.
Her family has sought assistance from elected officials to prevent her deportation.
The latest voting allegations represent a separate issue from her immigration proceedings and remain subject to the applicable legal process.
ICE also identified Jose Diaz Guandique, an El Salvador national accused of voting in the November 2024 election before being apprehended in October.
Another suspect, Alberto Ruiz Rui, a Mexican citizen, was detained in October after allegedly voting in the same election while unlawfully present in the United States.
Authorities said Ruiz Rui entered the country at an unknown time and location.
Several additional investigations involve Minnesota, where federal authorities obtained records from state election officials concerning individuals suspected of voting without citizenship.
Sheikhnoor Adbo, a Somali citizen and lawful permanent resident, allegedly voted in person during the Nov. 3, 2020, general election.
According to the documents reviewed by the Daily Caller, Minnesota secretary of state records identified the election in which Adbo allegedly participated.
Another suspect, Edvile Edmunds, a Lithuanian citizen and green card holder, surrendered to Homeland Security Investigations agents in August.
Investigators obtained Minnesota voting records through a subpoena indicating that Edmunds had voted in person during the state’s Nov. 8, 2022, general election.
According to ICE, Edmunds initially denied voting but subsequently acknowledged casting a ballot in that election.
Paul Kras, a German citizen, was arrested in September after investigators obtained records indicating he participated in the November 2020 and November 2024 federal elections.
Authorities said Kras was not a U.S. citizen when the votes were allegedly cast.
ICE also identified Monica Carzoli Carrillo, a Mexican citizen and lawful permanent resident whom investigators said admitted voting unlawfully in 2024.
Other individuals named in the investigation include Joas Habimana, a citizen of the Democratic Republic of the Congo who obtained permanent residency as the child of a refugee.
According to ICE, Habimana has prior convictions involving aggravated assault, robbery, drug possession and other offenses.
He is separately accused of illegally voting in the 2024 election.
The documents also identify Tito Ngilla, a Kenyan citizen and lawful permanent resident who surrendered to investigators in September after allegedly voting in 2024.
Ines Russell-Tuer, a German citizen and green card holder, also surrendered to federal investigators following allegations that she voted in the 2022 election.
Among the Canadian nationals identified were Debra McNeill Palm and Ernie David Warkentin.
Palm allegedly voted in 2022, while Warkentin is accused of voting in 2024. Authorities said Warkentin surrendered in September but declined to provide a statement.
ICE also identified Horatio Humphrey Hutchinson, a Jamaican citizen and lawful permanent resident with previous criminal convictions, and Kadian Hohnson, another Jamaican national accused of voting in the 2024 election.
Additional cases involve Moises Arellano Alba, a Mexican citizen accused of voting in 2024 after overstaying his authorized admission, and Casandra Guaman, a Mexican lawful permanent resident accused of voting in the same election.
Maria Alejandra DekKay, a Venezuelan national currently in immigration custody, allegedly voted in a 2021 election.
Jose Gilberto Tejada-Mendez, a Guatemalan national subject to a final removal order, is accused of voting in a 2026 election.
The allegations span several years and involve different circumstances, including individuals who entered the country legally and later received permanent residency.
Under federal law, lawful permanent residents generally cannot vote in federal elections, even if they have lived in the United States for decades, paid taxes or established permanent homes.
Citizenship is required to vote in elections for president, vice president and members of Congress.
Federal law provides limited exceptions for certain noncitizen voting in local elections where jurisdictions expressly authorize such participation. Those exceptions do not permit noncitizens to vote in federal contests.
The recent ICE investigations follow an Oct. 26 Justice Department announcement involving 48 foreign nationals charged in Pennsylvania, California, Florida, New York and Nevada with election-related offenses.
The charges included illegal voting, fraudulent voter registration and false claims of U.S. citizenship.
Among those identified was Alfredo Santiesteban, a 73-year-old Cuban national accused of voting in the 2024 general election.
Polish national Artur Kopacz, 50, was accused of voting in the 2022 and 2024 general elections.
Canadian citizen Diane Wendy Curley, a lawful permanent resident, was accused of voting in the same two elections.
The department also identified Brazilian national Pedro Igor A. Franco, who allegedly voted in the 2024 federal election.
The Justice Department’s announcement distinguished criminal charges from convictions, noting that defendants remain presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
The cases form part of a larger enforcement campaign that has included investigations, arrests and subpoenas for election records across the country.
On Oct. 19, federal authorities announced charges against 28 lawful permanent residents in California during an operation called Operation Protect the Vote.
According to the Justice Department’s official announcement, investigators alleged that the defendants had fraudulently registered to vote and that most had cast ballots in elections for which they were ineligible.
Eleven of those charged were arrested during the initial operation.
Federal prosecutors said the charges included fraudulent voter registration and false statements on naturalization applications.
Some offenses carry potential penalties of up to five years in federal prison.
The operation also intensified a dispute between the Trump administration and California officials over access to voter records and the identification of potentially ineligible voters.
The federal government provided California with a list of more than 20,000 registered voters it described as likely noncitizens and sought verification of their eligibility.
California officials disputed the reliability of the list and said the administration had not demonstrated that all the identified individuals were ineligible.
State Attorney General Rob Bonta rejected allegations of widespread election fraud and argued that isolated violations should not be presented as evidence of systemic misconduct.
Federal officials defended the investigation as necessary to protect citizens’ voting rights.
Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter said the California arrests demonstrated the importance of verifying citizenship when election records raise concerns.
The Justice Department has also warned that election workers who knowingly process ballots cast unlawfully by noncitizens could face federal investigation.
Those warnings have generated disputes over federal authority, the responsibilities of local election officials and the risk of preventing eligible citizens from voting.
The administration’s investigations extend beyond California.
A Reuters investigation published Oct. 28 found that the Trump administration had issued more than 100 subpoenas seeking information about tens of thousands of voters across at least 13 states.
Many subpoenas were directed at state and local election offices, including jurisdictions in California, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Texas, Kansas and Georgia.
At least 49 were issued through federal grand juries, indicating connections to criminal investigations.
The requests ranged from records concerning individual voters to substantially larger collections of voter registration information.
The Justice Department has also filed lawsuits seeking voter roll information from states that declined to provide certain records, including sensitive identifying information.
State officials and voting rights organizations have raised concerns about privacy, federal overreach and the possibility that inaccurate citizenship information could result in eligible voters being improperly removed from registration lists.
The Trump administration has maintained that the requests are necessary to identify unlawful voting and enforce federal election statutes.
The White House has defended the investigations as an effort to ensure that only eligible voters participate in federal elections.
At the same time, available studies and previous election investigations have generally found that noncitizen voting is uncommon relative to the total number of votes cast nationwide.
Reuters reported that federal charges involving noncitizen voting represented a very small fraction of the more than 150 million votes cast in the 2024 presidential election.
The distinction between documented individual cases and the overall prevalence of illegal voting remains central to the debate.
An arrest or criminal charge establishes that authorities have alleged an offense, not that the accusation has been proven.
Likewise, discovering a noncitizen on a voter registration list does not necessarily establish that the person actually voted.
Investigators must establish the relevant facts, including citizenship status, election participation and the elements of any alleged criminal offense.
Federal prosecutors have argued that even relatively small numbers of unlawful votes warrant investigation because close elections can be decided by narrow margins.
Voting rights advocates and state election administrators have countered that enforcement efforts must distinguish reliably between ineligible voters and citizens whose records contain administrative errors.
The dispute has become increasingly prominent as the Nov. 3 midterm elections approach.
Voters will decide control of the House of Representatives and Senate, along with numerous state and local offices.
Federal authorities have emphasized that additional investigations may continue after Election Day as agencies review registration records and determine whether suspected violations warrant prosecution.
The latest ICE cases demonstrate that investigators have identified individuals accused of participating in elections without U.S. citizenship, including some who allegedly cast ballots repeatedly over several years.
Whether those allegations result in convictions will depend on the evidence presented in each case.
The broader question of how frequently noncitizen voting occurs nationwide remains contested, with the administration emphasizing enforcement findings and independent research indicating that confirmed violations represent a small share of overall election participation.
With polls opening Tuesday, federal investigators and state election officials remain engaged in a dispute over how best to verify eligibility, enforce voting laws and protect the rights of qualified voters.
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