Feds Arrest Foreign National in California on Voter Fraud Charges

Federal officials on Aug. 28 arrested a foreign national living in California who they say illegally registered to vote and made false statements.

Darwin Jonathan Rivera Flores, 30, a Honduran national and lawful permanent resident living in Southern California, is accused by prosecutors of making felony false claims of being an American citizen on voter forms. He faces two charges—making a false claim to U.S. citizenship and fraudulent voter registration.

Rivera, who entered the United States in 2002, was also accused of physically disrupting federal immigration operations during a protest at the federal office earlier this year in Camarillo, California. For that, he was given a misdemeanor citation before pleading guilty and receiving a one-year probation sentence, said the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Aug. 28.

According to the DOJ, Rivera sent a federal agent text messages between April and July, writing to the agent at one point: “Your not the good guy I can’t wait until the mid terms you dont have qualified immunity then we can start and indict all you guys one bye one [sic].”

Following an investigation, Rivera allegedly was discovered to have registered to vote and proclaimed that he was a U.S. citizen in his 2025 application. Records that were obtained by the California secretary of state and the County of Los Angeles show that the “United States of America” was listed as his birthplace, according to the DOJ.

“There is no record of Rivera seeking or obtaining U.S. citizenship,” said the DOJ in a news release about his arrest, adding that he hasn’t voted in an U.S. election.

“Noncitizens who commit fraud so they can vote in American elections do so in violation of federal law and should expect to be prosecuted,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, in a statement. “Let this criminal complaint serve as a reminder that the Justice Department stands ready to enforce the laws Congress enacted to ensure only American citizens vote in federal elections.”

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said in a statement that “today’s arrest is the first of many to come” in his district.

“Because states like California allow non-citizens to easily register to vote and receive a ballot by mail, there is no telling how many non-citizens are currently registered,” he added in an X post.

Video footage that was included in the U.S. attorney’s post showed law enforcement officials surrounding a man who was being handcuffed.

It’s not clear if Rivera Flores has legal representation who can speak on his behalf. He was expected to make an initial court appearance in the United States District Court for the Central District of California in Los Angeles on Aug. 28.

It comes weeks after Essayli announced is office is pursuing several election fraud investigations alongside the FBI to carry out a “comprehensive audit of California’s voter rolls” amid questions about the state’s election systems.

“California’s election system has serious structural vulnerabilities,” Essayli wrote on X in June. “Universal vote-by-mail with no voter ID requirements creates conditions where fraud can go undetected and unpunished, eroding public confidence.”