The United States Department of Justice has charged two Nigerians and dozens of other foreign nationals over alleged illegal voting, fraudulent voter registration and false claims of American citizenship in federal elections.
The charges involve 63 individuals across different states, accused of offences including voting without US citizenship, falsely claiming American citizenship to register as voters and submitting fraudulent voter registration applications.
The Justice Department announced the charges on Monday as part of an ongoing crackdown on alleged election-related offences.
The Nigerians were identified as Mohammed Omar Hassan, 61, and Michael Agah, 74, both lawful permanent residents of the United States.
According to the department, Hassan was charged in the Southern District of Texas with voting by a non-US citizen. He allegedly voted in the 2022 and 2024 elections.
Agah, on the other hand, was charged in the Western District of North Carolina with voting by a non-US citizen and falsely claiming American citizenship to vote.
Prosecutors alleged that Agah falsely declared himself a US citizen on an Authorization to Vote Form before casting a ballot in the November 5, 2024 federal election.
US Attorney General Todd Blanche described the latest announcement as the largest surge in voter-fraud arrests since President Donald Trump returned to office.
The department disclosed that it had charged 195 non-US citizens across 25 states with illegal voting and voter registration offences within the preceding nine weeks.
This brings the total number of individuals charged with voting-related fraud offences since the beginning of the Trump administration to 239.
The latest development comes less than two months after the department announced charges against three other Nigerians and 13 foreign nationals over alleged election-related offences.
The Nigerians were identified as Gladys Adaeze Okafor, 56, Helen Sayen Adams, 67, and Joshua Nmelichukwu Akpom, 27.
Okafor and Adams were accused of falsely claiming American citizenship to register and vote, while Akpom was charged with making false statements in connection with his naturalisation application.
The Justice Department said the latest cases involved nationals from several countries, including Mexico, Jamaica, Canada, the Philippines, India, Colombia and the United Kingdom.
The cases are being prosecuted across different federal judicial districts, including Texas, North Carolina, Tennessee, California, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
However, the allegations against the defendants have not been established in court, and they remain presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
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