An illegal migrant will serve five years in jail for assuming a false identity and voting in multiple U.S. elections, federal prosecutors said Thursday.
Angelica Maria Francisco, a 42-year-old Guatemalan national living unlawfully in the country, was sentenced to a 60-month prison sentence for stealing a U.S. citizen’s identity, using that identity to fraudulently obtain several U.S. passports and participating in the 2016 and 2020 elections, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced. Francisco was living in the Russellville, Alabama, area at the time of her arrest in 2024.
“This sentence sends a clear message that any attempts by non-U.S. citizens to vote in the Northern District of Alabama are unacceptable and will result in serious consequences,” U.S. Attorney Prim Escalona said in a prepared statement. “Maintaining the sanctity of the U.S. election system is one of the most important responsibilities of federal law enforcement.
“My office will remain vigilant in carrying out this mission and, to that end, will continue to work with our federal, state, and local partners to investigate and prosecute individuals who seek to undermine our elections,” Escalona continued.
Francisco assumed the identity of an American citizen in 2011 and used it to score a U.S. passport that same year, which enabled her to travel to and from her home country of Guatemala, according to the DOJ. Using this same false identity, she registered to vote in Alabama in 2016 and voted in the primary and general elections in 2016 and 2020.
The illegal migrant pleaded guilty to two counts of false claims of citizenship in connection to voting, one count of aggravated identity theft, five counts of use of a United States passport obtained by false statements and one count of false statements in application for a United States passport, according to the DOJ.
The sentencing showcases how noncitizens, and illegal migrants in particular, are capable of participating in U.S. elections, despite objections from liberal groups.
The Biden administration in October successfully blocked the Alabama Secretary of State from implementing a program meant to remove noncitizens from the state’s voter rolls. Earlier that month, America First Legal sued Arizona for withholding the names of around 200,000 registered voters in the state who allegedly did not provide proof of citizenship.
Just days before the 2024 presidential election, state officials in Michigan charged a Chinese national for allegedly voting in the election.
A spokesperson for Immigration and Customs Enforcement was not able to provide further details about Francisco to the Daily Caller News Foundation by the time of publication for this article.
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