The Justice Department filed charges against 16 people in seven states for alleged illegal voting and election fraud, part of a broader federal probe that officials say now covers more than 300,000 suspected cases nationwide.
The cases stretch from Texas to Georgia to New Jersey, and the allegations range from noncitizens casting ballots in federal elections to passport fraud, wire fraud, and firearm offenses. Eight of the 16 defendants are noncitizens living in Texas. The remaining cases come from Idaho, Georgia, Massachusetts, Wisconsin, New Jersey, and Michigan, Fox News reported.
Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald, who leads the DOJ's Fraud Division, framed the enforcement push in blunt terms.
"America's elections are for Americans."
The announcement brings the Trump administration's total to 50 noncitizens charged with illegal voting, according to McDonald. And the DOJ made clear it views the crackdown as a deterrent, posting a warning on social media: "Let this be a warning to ANYONE trying to cheat and undermine our elections. Spread the word!"
Six of the 16 defendants were identified by name. Their cases paint a picture of alleged illegal voting that, in some instances, went undetected for years.
Analiea Milliscent Eccles, a Venezuelan national and recipient of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals protections, commonly known as DACA, faces charges in Georgia for allegedly voting nine times between 2008 and 2024. DACA shields certain people brought to the country illegally as children from deportation, but it does not confer citizenship or the right to vote. If the DOJ's allegations hold, Eccles cast ballots across four presidential election cycles without legal authority to do so.
Monica Carzoli, a 46-year-old Mexican national and lawful permanent resident, was arrested in Del Rio, Texas. The DOJ says Carzoli admitted to registering and voting in the November 2024 election. Lawful permanent residents, green card holders, may live and work in the United States legally, but federal law bars them from voting in federal elections.
Santana Coulibaly, a lawful permanent resident in New Jersey, allegedly registered to vote in 2016 and then cast ballots in the 2018 and 2020 federal elections. She also submitted a provisional ballot in the 2024 presidential election, the New York Post reported. Coulibaly faces additional allegations tied to false statements in her naturalization applications, meaning the fraud may have extended beyond the ballot box into the immigration system itself.
Avila Gomez, a Mexican national living in Idaho, is accused of falsely claiming U.S. citizenship to register and then voting in both May 2022 and November 2024. But the indictment goes further. Gomez also faces charges for wire fraud, passport fraud, identification-document fraud, and firearm-related offenses, a stack of allegations that suggests the false citizenship claim enabled a wider pattern of illegal activity.
Federal law prohibits noncitizens from possessing firearms, and a fraudulent passport or identification document can unlock access to benefits, employment, and systems reserved for citizens. Gomez's case illustrates how a single false claim of citizenship can ripple outward.
Gladys Adaeze Okafor, a 56-year-old Nigerian national and lawful permanent resident, was arrested and charged with illegally voting in the 2022 elections and again in the 2024 general election. Julieta Englestad, a 53-year-old Colombian national and lawful permanent resident, faces charges for allegedly claiming to be a U.S. citizen when she registered to vote ahead of the November 2022 federal election.
Ten additional defendants were charged but not named in the DOJ's announcement. Their cases span Massachusetts, Wisconsin, and Michigan, though the specific allegations tied to each state remain unclear.
DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin placed the 16-defendant announcement inside a much larger enforcement picture. In a separate interview, Mullin said federal investigators are examining more than 300,000 suspected cases of illegal voting or election-related fraud, a figure he described as one that "continues to grow."
Of those, more than 1,620 cases are under active investigation, and 151 arrests have already been made. Mullin did not mince words about the scale of the problem:
"One is too many, but the fact that we have 300,000 cases we're looking into right now and 1,620 cases that are under investigation, and 151 arrests is unacceptable."
Mullin also made the case in personal terms for every lawful voter whose ballot may have been diluted:
"Every single vote that was at the hands of an illegal [immigrant], canceled out a citizen that was legally registered and able to vote."
The DOJ noted, as is standard practice, that all defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. No trial dates or plea arrangements were disclosed in the announcement.
The 16-defendant announcement landed alongside a separate but related federal case that underscores the broader problem. Lina Maria Orovio-Hernandez, a 59-year-old illegal immigrant from Colombia living in Boston, was indicted by a federal grand jury for identity theft, voter fraud, and receiving stolen government property, Just The News reported.
Using a stolen identity, Orovio-Hernandez allegedly obtained eight state identification cards and a Massachusetts Real ID. That stolen identity then became the key to roughly $400,000 in federal benefits, including $259,589 in Section 8 rental assistance from October 2011 through January 2025, Social Security disability payments, and food-assistance benefits. She also allegedly registered to vote and cast a fraudulent ballot in the 2024 presidential election.
The case is a stark example of how identity fraud by illegal immigrants can cascade through multiple government systems at once, housing, disability, nutrition assistance, and elections, with taxpayers footing the bill for years before anyone catches it.
Several questions hang over the DOJ's announcement. The specific federal statutes cited in each indictment were not disclosed. It remains unclear whether Carzoli's reported admission came during a formal court proceeding or in a separate interview with investigators. The methodology behind Mullin's 300,000-case figure, how DHS identified those suspected cases and what threshold triggers a formal investigation, was not explained.
And the relationship between the 50-total-charged figure cited by McDonald and the 16 announced in this specific action raises its own question: how many of those 50 cases have resulted in convictions, and how many remain in early stages?
None of that diminishes the core fact. Sixteen people across seven states stand accused of undermining the most basic mechanism of self-government, the vote. Some allegedly did it once. One allegedly did it nine times over sixteen years. The DOJ says more cases are coming.
When noncitizens cast ballots, they do not add a voice to democracy. They cancel one out. Every enforcement action that stops it is an action taken on behalf of the citizens whose votes are supposed to be the only ones that count.
