Federal prosecutors announced charges Tuesday against seven noncitizens in North Texas accused of illegally voting or making false citizenship claims, U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould said in Fort Worth.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas, six defendants were indicted Sept. 10 and a seventh was charged by complaint Sept. 11. Agents arrested one person Sept. 11 and five on Sept. 14. A seventh defendant, previously a fugitive, surrendered Tuesday. All seven are now in custody, prosecutors said.
The Dallas Morning News reports four of the federal defendants are accused of voting in the November 2024 general election. Two others allegedly cast provisional ballots in Tarrant County that election officials later rejected; prosecutors say submitting those ballots was still unlawful. A seventh defendant is charged with false statements on a 2026 naturalization application after registering in 2017 and voting in 2018. Prosecutors said the five-year statute of limitations blocked a voting charge in that case.
Today in @NDTXnews, @USAttyRaybould announces charges against seven noncitizens who illegally voted in federal elections or falsely claimed U.S. citizenship ⬇️
— U.S. Department of Justice (@TheJusticeDept) September 15, 2026
"Let me be unmistakably clear, illegal voting in our federal elections is a crime. Falsely claiming U.S. citizenship is… pic.twitter.com/TJ5NjPDeaq
Six of the seven are lawful permanent residents, according to the Justice Department. The seventh is a Mexican national who prosecutors said had been ordered deported in July. Most of the alleged voting occurred in Tarrant County. One case is tied to Dallas County, the Star-Telegram reported.
“Federal elections belong to American citizens—period,” Raybould said in a Justice Department statement.
Tarrant County District Attorney Phil Sorrells separately announced two state voter-fraud cases Tuesday. He said warrants have been issued but no one is in custody yet. “A lawful vote should never be canceled out by an unlawful vote,” Sorrells said, according to the Star-Telegram.
The FBI and Homeland Security Investigations led the federal inquiry with help from the Texas attorney general’s Election Integrity Unit and the Tarrant County DA’s office. Federal illegal-voting charges can carry up to a year in prison, NBC 5 reported. The defendants remain presumed innocent.
The Texas secretary of state’s office said Tuesday it referred 117 other potential noncitizen-voting cases to the attorney general and confirmed that 578 voters previously flagged in a federal database are U.S. citizens, Votebeat reported.
LISTEN on the Audacy App
Tell your Smart Speaker to "PLAY 1080 KRLD"
Sign Up to receive our KRLD Insider Newsletter for more news
Follow us on Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube
