Trump escalates crackdown on illegal voting with new arrests in California fraud sting

The Justice Department has charged 28 foreign nationals in California with allegedly registering to vote illegally, in a case the Trump administration describes as part of its crackdown on non-citizen voting. The announcement, about two weeks before the 2026 midterm elections, intensifies a dispute with California over voter rolls and ballot counting.

The department said 11 people are in federal custody and the other 17 are expected to be arrested. Officials said all 28 appear on a list of more than 20,000 people they identified as likely non-citizens registered to vote; they called that figure the “floor” against an earlier suggested “ceiling” of 190,000. The administration has sought to stop California counting ballots from the listed voters, while the article notes little evidence that illegal non-citizen voting occurs on a meaningful scale.