Federal Arrests of Noncitizens for Illegal Voting
Left 0%
Center 0%
Right 100%
0 left · 0 center · 3 right
What happened
Federal agents have arrested multiple noncitizens in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Georgia on charges of voting in U.S. elections while ineligible. On September 17, Homeland Security Investigations and the FBI arrested Sanata Coulibaly, a Senegalese national and legal permanent resident in New Jersey, on charges of unlawfully procuring citizenship or naturalization and voting by an alien; prosecutors allege she voted in the 2018, 2020, and 2024 general elections. In Pennsylvania, agents arrested Haitian national Cliff Sanon, 39, accused of voting in November 2022 and of submitting multiple voter-registration applications, and Mexican national Dilea Ochoa-Perez, 43, accused of voting in Chester County in the 2022 and 2024 general elections; two lawful permanent residents were also charged there in related cases. Three people described by federal authorities as illegal aliens in Georgia face charges of casting ballots in past federal elections. The cases are at the charging stage; none of the defendants has been convicted on these counts.
Sourcing check · Mostly on the record · 3 articles
2 of 3 articles cite a named source for the story. It was on the record from the first report.
What these terms mean and how they're counted
- On the record · names a source 2 of 3
- On the record means the article cites a source by name for the story's main claim: a person, or an institution speaking officially, such as a company statement or a named agency's spokesperson. The opposite is an unnamed source. The count is how many of the counted articles cite at least one such source; the names are everyone named across them, each once however the articles spell it. Here: Markwayne Mullin, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and FBI, Nathan Abel and David Metcalf
- Primary evidence · cites a document or data 2 of 3
- Primary evidence means the article cites a record you could check yourself: a court filing or ruling, a dataset or report, a recording or transcript, an official statement or press release, market data. A quote is not a document. The count is how many articles cite one. Here: arrest, federal charges
- Credits another outlet 0 of 3
- The article says the story comes from another outlet's reporting (“first reported by Reuters”). Those articles relay the story; they are not independent confirmation. Here: Each article presents its own reporting.
- Unnamed sources 0 of 3
- The main claim is attributed to people who are not identified: “people familiar with the matter”, “officials said”. The count is how many articles do this.
- How it developed
- When the first report landed and whether it named anyone; when the first named source and the first document appeared. Here: First report Sep 24, 14:15 UTC by Breitbart, naming its source. First document in the first report, from Breitbart (arrest).
- Not counted 0
- Opinion, analysis and video pieces, and articles too short to assess. Every count above is out of the counted articles. An article republished under a new headline is one article.
This is about who is cited, not whether the story is true. Each source below says what it names. How we count
ONE-SIDED THIS WEEK.
Only right-leaning outlets have covered this story in the last two days;
The Guardian reported it on 2026-09-15.
Omitted — what each side leaves out
Unpacked
Left-leaning coverage has not reported these arrests. Right-leaning coverage says federal agents charged noncitizens with voting as aliens in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Georgia. One account centers on a Senegal-born green-card holder accused of voting in three general elections. Another describes Pennsylvania defendants accused of voting in recent midterms and a presidential race. Those details appear in Breitbart and Daily Wire. A reader of only left-leaning outlets would not know the charges exist, would not see DHS statements that noncitizens have no right to vote, and would not see New Jersey's Motor Voter error tied to foreign-national registrations. The gap is total silence versus a cluster of enforcement stories.
Right-leaning coverage does not use the same status label for the people arrested. One account in Daily Wire frames Pennsylvania defendants as "illegal immigrants." The New Jersey case is called a "legal immigrant" in Breitbart.
Did any of the alleged ballots change a certified election result?
Bottom line
Left-leaning outlets have not reported the HSI arrests that Daily Wire says include four noncitizens in Pennsylvania, or Breitbart's New Jersey green-card case.
The receipts — 5 facts one side's coverage lacks
- Sanata Coulibaly, a Senegal-born green-card holder, was arrested on September 17 and charged with voting by an alien and unlawfully procuring citizenship.
- A software error in New Jersey's Motor Voter system allowed about 6,600 foreign nationals to register to vote.
- Around 400 of those foreign nationals have voted illegally in New Jersey elections since 2023.
- Haitian national Cliff Sanon, 39, allegedly voted in Pennsylvania in the November 2022 election.
- Three illegal aliens residing in Georgia face federal charges for allegedly casting ballots in past federal elections.
The Right View
Breitbart, The Daily Wire, and One America News have reported the arrests as evidence that noncitizens have voted in federal elections. Breitbart focused on the New Jersey case, quoting DHS as calling noncitizen voting a serious threat and citing a New Jersey admission that a Motor Voter software error allowed about 6,600 foreign nationals to register and roughly 400 to vote since 2023, plus a DHS suggestion that as many as 35,000 foreign nationals are registered in the state. The Daily Wire reported the Pennsylvania arrests in detail, including potential sentences, HSI comments that unlawful ballots undermine election confidence, and a Justice Department lawsuit over Pennsylvania’s voter rolls that a federal judge dismissed and that DOJ has appealed. OAN reported three Georgia defendants facing federal charges and framed the cases against claims that noncitizens do not vote in federal elections.
Our Take (balanced)
The story is substantive in form: it names defendants, dates, places, charges, and attributed law-enforcement statements, which is more than one party’s uncorroborated word. What is established, if the charging actions occurred as described, is that federal agents made arrests and filed charges. Whether the defendants actually voted, how they got on the rolls, and how widespread any problem is remain alleged until primary records are public. Some figures and official titles in the right-leaning accounts are not corroborated here by charging documents or agency releases. No left-leaning outlet has reported this. Watch for unsealed complaints or indictments, DOJ or DHS releases, state voter-roll data, and responses from election officials in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Georgia.
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