Breitbart: Federal Agents Arrest More Alleged Illegal Voters on Election Day as DOJ Charges 63 and DHS Names Arrests Under 'Operation Ballot Shield'
Breitbart says DOJ charged 63 people on Monday and DHS announced voting-related arrests Tuesday. It also reports Democrats won a California court order over ballots. The 'tip of the iceberg' claim comes from an advocacy group, not an official count.
Federal agencies are arresting noncitizens accused of voting in earlier elections as Election Day plays out, Breitbart reports, in what it describes as an effort to deter illegal voting in the midterms.
The charges. Breitbart says the Justice Department announced charges Monday against 63 people "in connection with illegal voting, fraudulent voter registration, and related election crimes across the country," according to a Nov. 2 announcement. On Tuesday, it says, the Department of Homeland Security announced arrests of people from the Philippines, Italy, Finland, Algeria and Iraq for voting in 2024. Breitbart adds that U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli announced more charges in California.
The warning. Breitbart quotes a Nov. 3 post from DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin: "If you vote illegally in this country, and you are NOT eligible to vote, @DHSgov will find you, hunt you down, and you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law." It also cites a post from Harmeet Dhillon, the department's top civil rights official, saying DOJ is sending "1,000+ monitors & observers to all 50 states."
The activist view. William Gheen, founder of Americans for Legal Immigration PAC, told Breitbart that "the feds are sending a message" and that the department's Operation Ballot Shield "will help deter many illegal noncitizen voters." He says what is showing up now is "the tip of the iceberg." His group collects public reports of foreign voters. Those are his claims and his group's, not a government count.
The court fight. Breitbart says Democrats are pushing back with lawsuits. In California, it says, they persuaded federal judges to bar the Justice Department from temporarily separating the private ballots of perhaps 20,000 possible noncitizen voters.
Related. Our earlier report covered ICE arrests of more foreign nationals accused of illegal voting.
What we could not check. We have not seen the DOJ or DHS announcements or the court order. Breitbart does not say how many of the arrested people actually cast ballots that were counted, and the report's claims about Democratic "machines" are the author's and Mr. Gheen's, not established findings.