Seven noncitizens have been charged in North Texas as part of a federal election-integrity operation, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, Ryan Raybould. The charges come as the Trump administration increases its focus on investigating and prosecuting election-related crimes.
According to officials, six defendants were indicted on September 10, and a seventh was charged with a criminal complaint the following day. Six of the defendants were arrested by federal agents, while the seventh, initially considered a fugitive, surrendered to authorities.
One of the indicted individuals, described as an illegal alien from Mexico, was also a convicted felon for lying on a passport application in 2023, Raybould stated. "So this person has already interacted with our office, the Department of Justice, and chose to then again commit a serious federal violation," he said.
Raybould indicated that these cases are just the beginning of his office's efforts. The Department of Justice recently charged five individuals in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Wisconsin for alleged illegal voting or fraudulent registration in the 2022 or 2024 elections.
"It’s important to clean up our elections and make sure that they’re free and fair," Raybould told Fox News. "And my job as U.S. attorney is to prosecute cases and controversies. And so if fraud happens, whether it’s our elections, our health care fraud system, stealing from the American taxpayer, I’m going to go after it."
Prosecutors are concentrating on whether federal law was violated, regardless of the political candidate who may have received an illegal vote. "We don’t even know who they voted for, frankly, like we don’t care," Raybould said. "You can vote for whoever. That is not what we are focused on, it's the act. You're not allowed to vote if you're an illegal alien."
The federal efforts to identify potential noncitizen voters have drawn scrutiny from some Democrats regarding the methods used to access and analyze voter information. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and Senator Alex Padilla publicized a complaint from an anonymous Department of Homeland Security (DHS) whistleblower, alleging that personnel involved in the "Unlawful Voter Initiative" were directed to access state voter records in potentially unlawful ways.
DHS has refuted these allegations, with a spokesperson stating, "The Department accessed publicly available data from states’ voter rolls and cross-referenced them with known aliens in our systems. It’s not rocket science; it’s an easy step to secure our elections."
Raybould defended the investigators' use of federal databases and publicly available information, asserting that Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) has the right to access such databases and cross-reference them with public information. He compared the process to how federal authorities analyze data in healthcare fraud cases to identify outliers for further investigation.
"Everybody should be in favor of making sure that illegals do not vote in our elections," Raybould said, adding that prosecuting election fraud should have bipartisan support. He explained that noncitizen voting diminishes the value of votes cast by U.S. citizens and undermines democracy.
The seven noncitizens charged face various offenses: Helen Sayen Adams, 67, a Nigerian citizen, is charged with voting by an alien in a federal election and false statement of citizenship. Joshua Nmelichukwu Akpom, 27, also a Nigerian citizen, is charged with false statements in relation to naturalization for allegedly denying he voted on his naturalization application. Carlos Salas Barrios, 41, a Mexican citizen, is charged with voting by an alien in a federal election for casting an unlawful provisional ballot. Khalwinder Singh Bhengura, 69, an Indian citizen, is charged with voting by an alien in a federal election and false statement of citizenship. Celestin Katubadi, 20, a citizen of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is charged with voting by an alien in a federal election and false statement of citizenship. Rocio Thrasher, 38, a Mexican citizen, is charged with voting by an alien in a federal election and false statement of citizenship. Moises Anwar Arellano Alba, 36, a citizen of Mexico described as an illegal alien, is charged with voting by an alien in a federal election and false statement of citizenship after allegedly voting early in the 2024 general election in Dallas County.