Illegal alien votes in 'multiple' US elections after stealing identity of American citizen, DOJ alleges

An illegal alien residing in Alabama assumed the identity of an American citizen and used that false identity to cast votes in "multiple" U.S. elections, the Department of Justice has alleged.

On Thursday, the DOJ announced that Angelica Maria Francisco, a 42-year-old native of Guatemala, has been assessed nine charges involving false claims of citizenship in connection with voting, false statements in application for a United States passport, use of a United States passport obtained by false statements, and aggravated identity theft, according to the DOJ press release.

Authorities believe that sometime around 2011, Francisco assumed the identity of an American citizen and used that false identity to obtain an American passport. She then allegedly used that passport to travel back and forth to Guatemala in 2012, 2015, and 2018 before renewing the passport and visiting Guatemala again in 2022.

Francisco also allegedly used the false identity to register to vote in Alabama in 2016 and to vote in the 2016 and 2020 primary and general elections, the DOJ claimed.

To reduce the number of noncitizens voting to as close to zero as possible ... Republicans in Congress have attempted to pass the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility — or SAVE — Act, which would restrict voting in federal elections to US citizens only.

Francisco most recently resided in Russellville, Alabama, a city of nearly 11,000 people about 75 miles west of Huntsville. When and where she entered the U.S. is unclear, though the DOJ described her as "undocumented."

The DOJ also stated that a plea agreement has been filed in her case, indicating that Francisco "has agreed to plead guilty to all of the charges." A U.S. District Court will schedule a hearing for her case.

The DOJ announcement undermines recent narratives from Democrats and members of the mainstream media that noncitizens voting in U.S. elections is too "rare" to have significant impact on election results.

To reduce the number of noncitizens voting to as close to zero as possible and thereby shore up confidence in American elections, Republicans in Congress have attempted to pass the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility — or SAVE — Act, which would restrict voting in federal elections to U.S. citizens only.

The bill passed the House in July, after 216 Republicans and five Democrats voted in favor of it, and it now moves on for consideration in the Senate, currently under Democrat control. To increase the chances that it will become law, congressional Republicans have pushed to tie the SAVE Act to a continuing budget resolution.

"If Senate leadership truly believes our democracy is sacred, and that the SAVE Act is redundant because it's already illegal for undocumented immigrants to cast a ballot in federal elections, then passing a CR with the SAVE Act included shouldn't be an issue. If it is a problem for Democrats, they should explain to the American people what the hang-up is," wrote Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) in a recent Newsweek op-ed.

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