Alma Patricia Contreras Villafana, 54, of South Los Angeles, a Mexican national who ignored a decades-old deportation order, was arrested today in Torrance on an eight-count federal indictment charging her with lying about being a U.S. citizen to secure a job at an aerospace manufacturer and U.S. military contractor. According to the indictment, Villafana first used the false claim in 1996 and repeated it as recently as 2026, despite a 2003 removal order. Over three decades, she obtained more than $1.4 million in wages through wire deposits. She also falsely claimed U.S. citizenship on multiple Form I-9s and used another person’s certificate of naturalization number to keep her job. She is charged with wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, use of a false naturalization certificate, and falsely claiming U.S. citizenship. She is expected to make her initial appearance Monday in federal court in downtown Los Angeles.

California Election Fraud Update: James Brass, 47, of Victorville, was arrested today on a federal indictment charging him with paying people on Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles to sign petitions using stolen identities of registered voters to qualify initiatives on ballots in California elections. Brass is expected to make his initial appearance this afternoon in United States District Court in Riverside. Also charged in the two-count indictment are two petition circulators who worked for Brass: Courtney Price, 49, of Jacksonville, Florida, and Jateisha Herron, 33, of Boron, California. All three defendants are charged with one count of conspiracy to commit identity fraud in furtherance of a state felony. Brass and Price are charged with an additional count of identity fraud in furtherance of a state felony. The charged conduct undermines the confidence voters have in our election systems. We will vigorously investigate and charge anyone involved in corrupting our elections.

🚨 Election Fraud Arrests Begin This morning we arrested and federally charged a Honduran national for unlawfully registering to vote in California and falsely claiming to be a U.S. citizen. Darwin Jonathan Rivera Flores, 30, of Winnetka, is charged with two felonies and faces deportation if convicted. 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. It is time for California to comply with @AAGDhillon’s request for a comprehensive audit of its voter rolls to protect the integrity of our elections. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.

California Is Blocking a Federal Audit of Its Voter Rolls California allows first-time voters to register using forms of ID that most Americans would find surprising, including: -Gym membership card -Employer ID card -Credit or debit card -Prescription drug label -Insurance card (California provides free health coverage to undocumented immigrants) Full list: This is permitted when a voter fails to provide a Social Security number or driver’s license at registration. Our office believes this policy deserves a closer look. We also have serious concerns about how California maintains its voter rolls. There are open questions about whether the state is promptly removing deceased voters, people who have moved, and individuals convicted of disqualifying felonies. On top of that, California allows third parties to collect and turn in ballots on voters’ behalf (a practice known as ballot harvesting) with few restrictions. This makes it difficult to track who actually received, completed, and submitted each ballot. For over a year, the Department of Justice has been trying to audit California’s voter rolls. Federal law gives the Attorney General the authority to review state voter files and confirm that only eligible U.S. citizens are voting in federal elections. @AAGDhillon sent California a letter explaining our legal authority. California refused to comply, claiming state privacy laws block the review, an argument that does not hold up because those laws don’t apply to the federal government in this context. We’ve sued California in federal court, and the case is before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. If California genuinely wants voters to trust its elections, it should open its records, not fight to keep them closed. What are they afraid of?