Jennie Taer

The Justice Department filed a lawsuit against California Thursday seeking to block the state from counting mail-in ballots from people the federal

The Justice Department filed a lawsuit against California Thursday seeking to block the state from counting mail-in ballots from people the federal government identifies as likely noncitizens until their citizenship can be verified.The complaint comes after acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter sent letters to Golden State officials threatening legal action if they failed to review a list of people the federal government believes are likely noncitizens who were sent mail-in ballots for the November 3 election. The department provided the list on a password-protected thumb drive to Los Angeles County officials and gave officials 48 hours to respond to its demands to review the names and set aside ballots from anyone whose citizenship could not be confirmed.The Justice Department also asked the state to stop sending ballots to listed individuals who had yet to receive one and to set aside returned ballots from listed individuals without tabulating them until citizenship could be determined.“State-facilitated voter fraud is unacceptable in the United States of America,” Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement Thursday.“If found responsible in a court of law, the State of California will have seriously undermined confidence in our electoral system and violated laws that protect our nation’s representative system of government. The Department of Justice will continue working to uncover cases of voter fraud, hold fraudsters accountable, and restore trust in American elections,” Blanche said.California Secretary of State Shirley Weber’s office said late Wednesday that the DOJ “demands that California blindly trust this administration without any evidence or legal authority to justify its request.”“The Secretary of State’s (SOS) office received a demand to review a list of an unknown number of people the ‘Federal Government believes are likely noncitizens,’ but the United States Department of Justice did not provide the list to our office,” Weber’s office said.“The USDOJ’s relentless efforts to unlawfully gain access to states’ protected voter data and purge voter rolls serve only to cause chaos and fuel public distrust in our elections,” said Weber.LA County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk Dean Logan said his office would refuse to access the contents of the thumb drive “because doing so would conflict with established data privacy and information security protocols.”“We do not consider the device a secure medium,” Logan said in the statement. “Additionally, the letter does not specify the number of individuals involved or describe the information contained in the records.”The Justice Department made clear in the lawsuit that it’s not asking California to “purge” state voter rolls or cancel votes. Instead, the department is asking a judge to require the state to set aside the ballots of people it identifies as likely noncitizens until their citizenship can be determined.The lawsuit says the list contains more than 20,000 names.

Democrats have spent months fawning over Martin Soto, an illegal immigrant who led a hunger strike inside an ICE detention facility after he and his wife claimed he was illegally “abducted” by federal agents while buying diapers for their infant son.The Daily Wire has repeatedly poked holes in this narrative, this week revealing police records that showed Soto was first arrested by the Kearny Police Department on Feb. 1 for allegedly violently assaulting his wife. ICE only took him into custody on Feb. 2 when they picked him up from the Hudson County jail.Democrats don’t seem to care.On Thursday, New Jersey Rep. Nellie Pou honored Martin Soto and his wife, Gabriela, at a legislative dinner celebrating the end of Hispanic Heritage Month.During the event, Pou called Martin and Gabriela up to the podium as “special guests” of the event and handed them a letter while celebrating Martin’s recent release from ICE detention.“I want to especially recognize Martin and Gabriela Soto, who are right here. I cannot imagine, I cannot imagine what those months were like for Martin and for Gabriela and their children. No family, no family should have to endure what they went through. No family,” Pou said.“My office is proud to say that we worked very hard for months to secure Martin’s release. I worked very closely with so many different advocates, with many of my other colleagues, both Congressman Menendez and Congresswoman McIver and Congresswoman Analilia Mejia,” she said.Pou went on to say she was “happy” to “finally” see Martin a free man and thanked Gabriela for advocating for his release.“Pushing ICE and working with advocates who refused, we refused to give up. And, but I want you to know I want to recognize Martin’s wife, Gabriela. Gabriela is an unbelievable individual. Una mujer bien poderosa [a very powerful woman] in her own right. She spoke out publicly, demanded answers, told her family’s story, and never allowed anyone to forget about Martin. Thank you. Thank you for your courage, for your determination, and for your refusal to give up,” Pou said.ICE previously confirmed that federal immigration officers took Martin into custody that day after he was charged with assault. The agency also accused Martin of participating “in inciting unrest and causing property damage” while detained at Delaney Hall.“Martin, we are so very happy to see that you are finally home with your family. Martin, we are very happy that God has given you this freedom for now. I know that we are still fighting to ensure that he is permanently released. But he has the prayers of so many people. And like Martin, there are many other people who are suffering today. We understand that,” she said.Along with Pou, New Jersey Democrats including Sens. Andy Kim and Cory Booker, and Reps. Analilia Mejía and Bonnie Watson Coleman also have backed Martin. None of their offices responded to requests for comment, giving them the opportunity to backtrack that support after the police report surfaced.The Daily Wire previously reported on the incident based on local records obtained by the Oversight Project, which did not share any information about the victim other than her gender.According to those records, Martin “purposely” caused “bodily injury” to the victim “specifically by using his hands, both opened and closed to strike” her “in her face, causing minor scratches and cuts to her face and neck.”He then allegedly “placed a hand over” her “mouth so she could not scream for help,” the report stated.The latest police report redacted the victim’s name except for in one part where it identified her as “Ms. Soto.”It also identified the victim as the daughter of “Mr. Gabriel Osores.” Osores is Gabriela’s maiden name.At the time, officers responded to a “domestic violence” call at the Sotos’ home, where they arrested Martin, who allegedly committed the beating while children were present, according to the report.During the alleged altercation, Martin “tried to push” Gabriela’s father “off of him,” the report stated. The victim’s father “then told the defendant he must leave the house,” according to the report.The victim “then contacted the police,” while Martin’s next move, the details of which are redacted in the report, prompted Gabriela’s father “to pull him away,” the report said.The responding officers called EMS due to injuries to an unidentified individual and Martin, who they said was “bleeding from his nose, had a laceration on his lip, and several scratches on his abdomen.” Martin refused the medical aid.The assault case was later expunged, a city official in Kearny recently told The Daily Wire.On Oct. 6, Martin walked free from an ICE detention center in Elizabeth, New Jersey, where he was transferred in May, after a Biden-appointed judge granted his habeas petition that claimed he was wrongfully detained.Mejia and her fellow Democratic New Jersey Rep. Rob Menendez welcomed Martin outside the detention center. Gabriela was also there to greet her husband and alleged abuser.Gabriela did not respond to requests for comment on the newly obtained records.While her husband was in ICE detention, Gabriela led protests pushing for the release of all illegal immigrants and raised more than $67,000 on GoFundMe in the process on Martin’s behalf. She claimed the stress of having her husband locked up caused her to have a miscarriage.Martin’s lawyer, Selenia DeStefani, filed an application for the Peruvian national to receive a U visa, which is reserved for victims of certain crimes, over his alleged mistreatment by ICE. The New Jersey Department of Labor certified the U visa application.DeStefani has denied that Martin has a criminal record and said that “he is the victim of a crime, not the perpetrator of one.”In July, Gabriela told The Daily Wire that she was “not aware” of the police report, but confirmed that it was her husband’s information that was listed on the documents.She denied the allegations of domestic abuse.“My husband NEVER hit me I even have proof from pictures and selfies I had taken that week and I do not have no bodily injury. My husband never hit anyone. It’s only me my husband and kids at the home. My husband never would hit a female ever,” she said.She also claimed that Martin “never got arrested by Kearny PD” and that “he left the house on February 1 at 530pm.”“I have messages and locations and everything for proof from that afternoon. And I have a call from Delaney Hall at 1030 ish at night when he called me,” she said.“My husband will NEVER do nothing to harm his family or his marriage,” she added. “I know exactly where he was and what he does and who he talks too [sic].”

The Trump administration shielded more than 100,000 foreigners from Ukraine and Sudan living in the United States after their protections were set to expire.

Anti-Israel activist Mahmoud Khalil asked the Supreme Court to overturn a ruling that would allow the Trump administration to arrest him again.

Texas voters were shocked in recent days to discover pamphlets in the mail guiding students on how to defy their families and receive life-altering gender procedures.

Federal authorities busted a Massachusetts woman who ran a $6 million scheme that helped hundreds of illegal immigrants obtain immigration status in the United States through fake marriages.

The Justice Department charged 47 foreigners with illegally voting in American elections and registering to cast ballots, The Daily Wire is first to report.

The Justice Department charged 48 foreigners with illegally voting in American elections and registering to cast ballots, The Daily Wire is first to report.The accused are located in Nevada, Pennsylvania, California, Florida, and New York, according to the Department of Justice. All but one of the accused are lawful permanent residents.A single illegal immigrant was among those charged, according to a list provided by the Justice Department. Cuban national Alfredo Santiesteban, 73, allegedly cast a ballot in the 2024 general election.Several of the accused also illegally registered to vote before allegedly lying on their applications for citizenship when asked under oath if they had ever claimed to be citizens of the United States.CHECK OUT THE DAILY WIRE MIDTERM HUBOne of them was lawful permanent resident Omar Alexander Muñoz, 72, of Belize, who allegedly registered to vote in September 2019 while claiming to be an American citizen before voting in 2020, twice in 2022, and again in 2024. He then allegedly lied on his application to become a naturalized citizen.Maricela Nazarín González, a 43-year-old lawful permanent resident from Mexico, allegedly registered to vote in 2020 and voted in 2022, twice in 2024, and 2025.Both Muñoz and González were charged in California.In New York, Irish-born lawful permanent resident Eoin Cranney, 35, allegedly submitted a fraudulent voter registration application and voted in the 2024 federal general election.The Justice Department said Cranney admitted to federal agents “in substance and in part” that he was not a citizen, that he registered to vote in 2024, and that he had voted in the 2024 election knowing he lacked citizenship.Maribel del Carmen Garcés Barriga, a 62-year-old lawful permanent resident from Ecuador, registered to vote in 2024 and cast a ballot in a U.S. election, according to the DOJ. She then allegedly lied on her citizenship application by stating that she never voted or never registered to vote.Ahead of the midterm elections, the Trump administration has ramped up efforts to crack down on voter fraud. Along with charging noncitizens for illegally voting and registering to vote, the federal government has sought to audit state voter rolls, but has faced pushback from several Democrat-run states.The Justice Department filed a lawsuit against California earlier this month to block the state from counting mail-in ballots from people the federal government identifies as likely noncitizens until their citizenship can be verified.The lawsuit came after the federal government provided a list of alleged noncitizens who were sent mail-in ballots for the November 3 election to Los Angeles County officials. The Trump administration gave California officials 48 hours to respond to its demands to review the names and set aside ballots from anyone whose citizenship could not be confirmed.California officials refused to access the list, which was on a password-protected thumb drive.

A Haitian illegal immigrant allowed into the United States through a Biden administration parole program is accused of fatally shooting the American