The Republican administration says it is trying to root out voter fraud ahead<\/a> of next month\u2019s midterm elections, but California\u2019s Democratic leaders say the federal government is trying to sow fear and intimidate voters.<\/p>\n \u201cThese 28 defendants are on the list of 20,000 that was sent to California and L.A. County last week as part of our ongoing campaign to enlist California in our efforts to clean up their voter rolls and ensure that only citizens vote,\u201d acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter said at a news conference announcing the charges Monday.<\/p>\n Seventeen people from other states were also charged. The 28 defendants were legal permanent residents of the United States who had registered to vote in California. Some, but not all, had actually voted, McCotter said.<\/p>\n The Fresno County Elections Department said in a news release Monday afternoon it had not been contacted by federal prosecutors about the arrests. Elections officials check citizenship status when anyone attempts to register, according to the release.<\/p>\n It was not immediately clear how any of the noncitizens living in Fresno County charged in the sweep might have registered to vote.<\/p>\n The government\u2019s list of voters it believes to be noncitizens \u2014 along with its campaign to arrest people named on the list \u2014 is also the subject of a federal court hearing Monday in Oakland<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThe government is escalating its operations this morning, using what appears to be the same flawed target lists we challenge in this case, to intimidate people two weeks before election day,\u201d said Beau Tremitiere, lead attorney in the case filed by voting rights groups and the cities of San Francisco and Santa Clara.<\/p>\n Tremitiere\u2019s lawsuit seeks a preliminary injunction from U.S. District Judge Araceli Mart\u00ednez-Olgu\u00edn to bar the administration from targeting and arresting people whose names are on the list. Federal policies generally prohibit agents from conducting such operations in the weeks before an election to avoid intimidating voters, he said.<\/p>\n Six from Central Valley charged<\/p>\n Six of the defendants were charged in California\u2019s Eastern District, including two Sacramento residents and three Fresno County residents, according to the Justice Department.<\/p>\n Maricela Nazar\u00edn Gonz\u00e1lez, 43, of Clovis, was accused of registering to vote in 2020, indicating that she was a U.S. citizen. The prosecutors allege she voted in elections in 2022, twice in 2024, and in 2025.<\/p>\n Rony de Jes\u00fas Sicaja, 38, of Fresno, allegedly registered to vote in 2017, and voted in the June 2022 primary election and the November 2024 general election in the United States, according to a news release from prosecutors.<\/p>\n Camino Giles Jim\u00e9nez, 51, of Kerman, was accused of voting in three U.S. elections despite knowing he is a noncitizen. The most recent election was the June 2026 primary, federal prosecutors allege.<\/p>\n All six Central Valley defendants faced misdemeanor charges of voting as a noncitizen in a federal election, punishable by up to one year in federal prison, the Justice Department said.<\/p>\n This story was originally published October 19, 2026 at 4:29 PM.<\/p>\n Related Stories from Fresno Bee<\/p>\n