This is just the tip of a very sleazy iceberg. 

Federal agents launched a sweeping voter fraud crackdown across California Monday morning, arresting suspects accused of illegally registering and voting in American elections.

The operation comes just days after President Donald Trump's Justice Department gave California officials an ultimatum over more than 20,000 suspected noncitizens on the state's voter rolls.

Talk about timing.

According to an exclusive report from the California Post, Homeland Security Investigations agents targeted more than two dozen foreign nationals under an initiative dubbed "Operation Protect the Vote."

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One suspect, 72-year-old Belizean national Alexander Muñoz, was arrested around 6 AM at his home in Commerce, California.

Prosecutors allege Muñoz falsely claimed U.S. citizenship when registering to vote in 2019, then cast ballots in 2020, twice in 2022, and again in 2024.

He's also accused of lying on his naturalization application about having previously claimed American citizenship.

"Today's arrests confirm what we suspected and what we put California on notice for: Noncitizens are voting in California elections which is unconstitutional and illegal," said Los Angeles federal prosecutor Bill Essayli.

The arrests follow a rapidly escalating confrontation between Washington and Sacramento. 

As RedState's Teri Christoph reported Thursday, the DOJ filed an emergency lawsuit after California officials refused to segregate ballots associated with more than 20,000 people federal authorities identified as likely noncitizens.

Federal officials had given the state 48 hours to review the names and verify eligibility. California Secretary of State Shirley Weber disputed the evidence, while Gov. Gavin Newsom accused the administration of attempting to suppress voters.

"This is a sad, desperate attempt by Trump to use his politicized Justice Department to try to suppress California voters just three weeks before Election Day," Newsom declared.

Trump wasn't having it. As RedState's Rusty Weiss reported Saturday, federal officials warned California election administrators that knowingly facilitating illegal voting could expose them to criminal prosecution.

Trump added his own warning on Truth Social: "They will all go to jail for a long period of time!"

Now federal agents are making arrests. California automatically mails ballots to active registered voters, making accurate citizenship verification an important safeguard against illegal voting.

The 20,000 flagged registrations have not all been proven ineligible, and Monday's defendants are presumed innocent unless convicted. But prosecutors are alleging something considerably more concrete than a hypothetical vulnerability: actual noncitizens registering and casting ballots.

Election integrity advocates have warned for years that citizenship verification matters. Monday's arrests give those warnings a fresh urgency.

The question for Newsom and California election officials is straightforward: If the system is secure, how did the alleged illegal votes get through?

And with the November 3 midterms approaching, voters deserve an answer. And if California is breaking the law, more arrests.