The Department of Justice has had enough of California’s open defiance of federal law.

After giving Democrat Secretary of State Shirley Weber and Los Angeles County election officials a clear 48-hour deadline to review a federal list of more than 20,000 people the government believes are likely noncitizens who were mailed live ballots for the November 3 midterm election, California refused.

The Trump Justice Department filed a federal court action seeking an emergency order requiring the state to sequester those ballots until citizenship can be verified.

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bilal A. Essayli of the Central District of California put it plainly on X:

“Time is up for California. We gave California 48 hours to review and flag more than 20,000 noncitizen voters recently mailed live ballots. California refused. This morning we filed a federal court action seeking an emergency order requiring California to sequester ballots returned by suspected noncitizens. This is not political or controversial. 18 U.S.C. § 611 makes it a federal offense for noncitizens to vote in a federal election. We will not allow California to dilute the votes of American citizens.”

Time is up for California

We gave California 48 hours to review and flag more than 20,000 noncitizen voters recently mailed live ballots.

California refused.

This morning we filed a federal court action seeking an emergency order requiring California to sequester ballots returned by suspected noncitizens.

This is not political or controversial. 18 U.S.C. § 611 makes it a federal offense for noncitizens to vote in a federal election. We will not allow California to dilute the votes of American citizens.

— F.A. United States Attorney Bill Essayli (@USAttyEssayli) October 15, 2026

The federal lawsuit, filed in the Central District of California on October 15, requests an order preventing the tabulation of ballots belonging to individuals identified as likely noncitizens until their citizenship can be determined.

Under California law, registered active voters are automatically mailed ballots. That practice has become central to the DOJ’s concerns about individuals who may be improperly registered.

The Justice Department says Homeland Security Investigations and federal partners examined voter-registration records and conducted additional verification work to identify potential noncitizens.

In its official announcement, the DOJ confirmed it is asking the court to require California to set aside the disputed ballots, rather than automatically cancel them.

The letter from Acting Deputy Attorney General R. Trent McCotter, dated October 13, 2026, lays out the facts with devastating clarity. Federal law prohibits noncitizens from voting in federal elections.

The Supreme Court has long held that states may not induce or encourage private persons to do what the Constitution forbids.

On July 16, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin warned Weber that large numbers of noncitizens were registered to vote in California. Weber’s response the following week did not deny it. She simply asked for more information.

The Trump administration provided that information. Earlier this week, federal officials delivered a password-protected thumb drive to the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk containing the names of people the government believes are likely noncitizens who were sent vote-by-mail ballots under California’s automatic mail-ballot system.

The DOJ offered to send Weber a digital copy as well. The demand was straightforward: review the list within 48 hours.

For any individual whose citizenship cannot be independently confirmed, segregate, not cancel, the returned ballots and do not verify signatures or tabulate them until citizenship is determined. For those not yet mailed a ballot, withhold it.

California refused.

The Gateway Pundit reported yesterday that the Justice Department had given California exactly this 48-hour window or face emergency legal action. That deadline has now passed. The lawsuit followed.

California’s all-mail system, made permanent after the COVID emergency, automatically sends ballots to every registered voter. That means tens of thousands of people the federal government flags as likely noncitizens have already received, or will receive, official ballots for a federal election.

Every one of those votes, if counted, cancels the vote of an American citizen. As McCotter’s letter states: “Allowing noncitizens to vote cancels citizen votes.”

Secretary Weber and Governor Gavin Newsom’s allies have already begun the familiar media spin, claiming the list is inaccurate, the process is “voter suppression,” and the Trump administration is somehow the threat to democracy.

They said the same thing when DHS first raised the issue in July. They said the same thing when other states cooperated and cleaned their rolls. California’s position is that American citizens must simply trust the system while thousands of suspected noncitizens receive and potentially return ballots in a critical midterm election.

The law is clear. 18 U.S.C. § 611 makes it a federal crime for noncitizens to vote in federal elections. States run elections, but they do not get to nullify federal criminal statutes or dilute the votes of citizens. The Department of Justice under President Trump is treating this as the serious national security and election integrity issue it is.

Essayli and the DOJ are now in federal court seeking emergency relief. The American people deserve to know that only American citizens are choosing their leaders. California’s refusal to even review the list and sequester the questioned ballots makes that impossible without court intervention.