California Checks Medi-Cal Applicants' Citizenship but Not Voters'. Six More Accused Noncitizen Voters Charged

Six more green card holders in Los Angeles County were charged Monday with lying about their voting records to become U.S. citizens. Federal prosecutors say every one of them, and every one of the 28 charged before them, was on a list California already has.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles announced the charges the day before Election Day, bringing Operation Protect the Vote to 34 defendants. Five were arrested Monday morning, and First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said the sixth would be in custody shortly. Each is charged with making false statements on a naturalization application, which carries up to five years in federal prison.

That list holds more than 20,000 people on California's voter rolls whom the federal government flagged as noncitizens. It is the same list at the center of the emergency application the Solicitor General filed with the Supreme Court on Monday, asking the justices to make California keep those mail ballots separate until a court rules on them, as we reported earlier today.

"Our goal is not to charge all 20,000 people," Essayli told reporters. "Our goal is to get California to not count the votes of non-citizens."

The six

According to affidavits filed with the complaints, as summarized by prosecutors, each defendant claimed to be a U.S. citizen to register, voted, and later swore on a citizenship application that they had never done so. Every defendant charged in the operation is a lawful permanent resident, and green card holders may not register or vote in U.S. elections.

Sirgalahad Camua, 43, Palmdale. A citizen of the Philippines, he registered in August 2009 and voted by mail in May 2020, November 2024 and June of this year. His naturalization paperwork, filed in May 2025, said he had never claimed citizenship or registered to vote.

Krystel Capi Valle, 31, Palmdale. A Mexican national, she registered in October 2022 and voted by mail that November. In June 2026 she swore she had done neither.

Moria Dahan, 35, West Hills. An Israeli national, she registered and voted in person on Nov. 5, 2024, Election Day itself. On a form dated Nov. 6, 2025, she swore she had never claimed citizenship or registered.

Chad Goertz, 52, Agua Dulce. A Canadian citizen, he registered in April 2018 and voted by mail in November 2022 and November 2024. Essayli said that in September 2025 Goertz asked to cancel his registration, identifying himself as a noncitizen. Five months later he applied to become a citizen and denied ever registering or voting.

Mahyar Nikzad, 35, Canoga Park. An Iranian national, he checked the box on his registration form reading "I am a U.S. citizen," prosecutors say, and records show he voted in the March and November 2024 elections. In February 2026 he swore he had never claimed citizenship.

Gilberto Ruiz, 46, Palmdale. A Mexican citizen, he registered in July 2022 and voted by mail in November 2022, March 2024 and November 2024. In August 2025 he denied ever claiming citizenship or registering.

Essayli said everyone announced Monday cast a ballot. "There are many close elections in our system here," he said. "It doesn't take many illegal votes to corrupt our elections."

'Resolved overnight'

Essayli said the voter roll California makes available leaves out the Social Security and driver's license numbers people give when they register, so Homeland Security Investigations and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services had to rebuild that information from other databases, name by name. When it has been tested, he said, the list has held up: "L.A. County sampled 200 individuals on there and all 200 were confirmed to be foreign born aliens."

There is a faster way, he said, and California already uses it.

That program is SAVE, the federal system for checking immigration status. A computer matching agreement between USCIS and California's Department of Health Care Services lays out how the state uses SAVE to verify the immigration status of noncitizens who apply for the Medicaid benefits it runs, known in California as Medi-Cal. Essayli said 34 other states are now running their voter rolls through the same system. California, he said, refused.

A county prosecutor joins in

San Luis Obispo County District Attorney Dan Dow said his office filed a felony complaint in state court Monday against a 31-year-old man accused of registering to vote in August 2016 and voting in the September 2021 recall election. It is the first case his office has filed from the federal list, and Dow said 16 more are close to a charging decision.

"Today, California registers voters based on their word alone," Dow said. "A person checks a box, they sign a statement saying that they're a citizen, and the state accepts it, no questions asked. The state doesn't verify it."

"Some leaders want California to be a sanctuary state for immigration," he added. "Whatever your view on that issue, California must never be allowed to be a sanctuary for illegal voting."

Fox News correspondent Matt Finn posted the Justice Department's chart of all 34 defendants.

A criminal complaint contains only allegations, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty. Homeland Security Investigations is investigating the cases.

"Every illegal vote cast and counted cancels the legitimate vote of an American citizen," Essayli said in the release. "We will continue to arrest and prosecute those who threaten our democratic republic through unlawful vote dilution."