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Illegal immigrant learns fate after using stolen identity to vote in US elections for decades

Illegal immigrant learns fate after using stolen identity to vote in US elections for decades

Carlos Felipe Jaramillo-Grajales, a criminal illegal alien from Colombia, was recently sentenced to three years behind bars for identity theft and lying about his citizenship status — a falsification that, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), he used to participate in U.S. elections over a period spanning roughly 20 years. “Because of his fraud, he was able to obtain a driver’s license and vote in our elections,” DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said in a statement. “DHS will always fight to protect the integrity of our elections, because election security is national security. Only Americans should be electing American leaders,” he continued. His Friday sentencing comes as lawmakers in Washington, D.C. have wrestled over whether new legislation is needed to shore up voter verification that demonstrates the lengths some aliens have gone to secure state ID. SCHUMER SAID ‘DEMOCRATS SUPPORT VOTER ID’ — THEN EVERY SENATE DEMOCRAT VOTED AGAINST GOP BILL It’s a pattern that Mullin highlighted in a letter to secretaries of state in California, New Jersey, Nevada and Pennsylvania earlier this year. According to his findings, as many as 190,830 noncitizens registered to vote in California, for instance. In Jaramillo-Grajales’ case, he first began the scheme by using the name, date of birth and Social Security number of a U.S. citizen to obtain a passport in March 2003. Once he had secured that credential, he used the false information to obtain a Florida driver’s license and register to vote. He would go on to cast a ballot in the 2020 election and others, according to DHS. Investigators also explained that he had used the stolen identity for other purposes. “This criminal illegal alien spent years exploiting a stolen identity of a United States citizen to obtain government documents [and] claim benefits,” Tim Hemker, a special agent with Homeland Security Investigations, said. CALIFORNIA ACCUSED OF BLOCKING FEDERAL VOTER ROLL AUDIT AS DOJ ESCALATES PROBE OF ELECTION FRAUD CLAIMS In one instance, Jaramillo-Grajales used his false name in June 2017 to secure lawful permanent residence for his fiancée, who later became his wife. DHS framed Jaramillo-Grajales’s conviction as a part of a broader effort to crack down on illegal aliens fabricating information to vote or secure U.S. benefits. The agency noted cases like that of Marian Chariton, an alien from Slovakia, who had illegally voted in the 2022 election in New Jersey after falsely claiming to be a U.S. citizen. It similarly pointed to Jose Ceballos, an alien from Mexico who pleaded guilty to three counts of disorderly election for falsely claiming to be a citizen in Kansas. “Thanks to the hard work of the men and women of HSI, along with our federal partners, this criminal is out of our communities and, at the end of his sentence, will be removed from our country,” Mullin said. NONCITIZEN EX-KANSAS MAYOR PLEADS GUILTY TO ILLEGALLY VOTING MULTIPLE TIMES According to the Florida U.S. attorney’s office, Jaramillo-Grajales’ case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service (DSS), and the Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Arnold B. Corsmeier.

LA gun owners stuck waiting years for concealed carry permits score major DOJ victory

LA gun owners stuck waiting years for concealed carry permits score major DOJ victory

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) has slashed lengthy concealed carry permit delays after a Department of Justice (DOJ) lawsuit accused the agency of leaving thousands of applications in limbo and forcing some gun owners to wait nearly three years for action. The turnaround prompted the DOJ to end its landmark lawsuit against LASD, with federal officials announcing Thursday that the sheriff’s department is now meeting California‘s permitting deadlines after adding personnel and new processing software. The case put one of the nation’s largest law enforcement agencies at the center of the Trump administration’s push to enforce Second Amendment rights, with the DOJ calling the outcome a “huge win” for Los Angeles County residents and gun owners. INSIDE TRUMP’S UNPRECEDENTED BATTLE PLAN TO EXPAND SECOND AMENDMENT RIGHTS THROUGH JUSTICE DEPARTMENT The agreement marks the conclusion of a case the DOJ touted when it was filed in September 2025 as its first-ever affirmative lawsuit brought in support of gun owners’ Second Amendment rights. At the time of the lawsuit, applicants were waiting an average of more than nine months to receive decisions on their permits, the DOJ alleged. LASD has since “drastically” reduced those waits and is now complying with California’s statutory deadlines, the DOJ said. “The sheriff acknowledged the problem and devoted substantial additional resources, including new processing software and additional personnel, to cutting waiting times dramatically,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division said. “We applaud their efforts and are happy to be able to bring this litigation to a successful conclusion!” CIVIL LIBERTY ADVOCATES SUE BLUE STATE OVER ‘SHOW YOUR PAPERS’ GUN LAW The settlement caps a battle that began in March 2025, when the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division opened a pattern-or-practice investigation into whether the nation’s largest sheriff’s department was effectively denying residents their constitutional right to bear arms through excessive permitting delays. The DOJ said at the time that it had received numerous complaints about the department’s handling of concealed carry applications. Federal officials pointed to a court case in which applicants had faced waits of roughly 18 months. The investigation escalated into a federal lawsuit on Sept. 30, 2025. Federal prosecutors alleged that between January 2024 and March 2025, LASD received 3,982 applications for new concealed carry licenses but had approved just two as of May 2025. TRUMP’S PUSH FOR NATIONAL CONCEALED CARRY RECIPROCITY WOULD PROTECT GOOD GUYS WITH GUNS Approximately 2,768 applications remained pending, while another 1,210 had been withdrawn, according to the complaint. The federal government alleged applicants waited an average of 281 days before LASD took action on its applications, while the median delay was 372 days. Some applicants had waited as long as 1,030 days — nearly three years. California law requires licensing authorities to provide applicants with an initial approval or denial within 90 days. The DOJ argued those delays amounted to a “pattern or practice” of depriving people of their constitutional rights, alleging LASD was effectively forcing some applicants to abandon their efforts to obtain a permit. MARYLAND SYNAGOGUE SUES COUNTY OVER LAW RESTRICTING CONCEALED CARRY NEAR HOUSES OF WORSHIP “The Second Amendment protects the fundamental constitutional right of law-abiding citizens to bear arms,” former Attorney General Pam Bondi said when the lawsuit was filed. “Los Angeles County may not like that right, but the Constitution does not allow them to infringe upon it.” The federal action followed separate litigation brought by the California Rifle & Pistol Association, Gun Owners of America, Gun Owners of California, the Second Amendment Foundation and individual gun owners challenging California and local concealed carry restrictions. That case resulted in a preliminary injunction that included allowing qualifying non-California residents to apply for concealed carry permits. California subsequently changed its law to permit qualifying non-residents to apply, and LASD’s current application portal includes an option for out-of-state applicants. The DOJ’s case also came amid a broader effort by the Trump administration to use federal civil rights enforcement to protect Second Amendment rights. DOJ SUES DENVER OVER BAN ON ‘ASSAULT WEAPONS’ AS CITY’S DEM MAYOR SAYS IT ‘WILL NOT BE BULLIED’ The Civil Rights Division has since established a dedicated Second Amendment Section, which has pursued challenges involving firearms laws and permitting practices in several jurisdictions. Under the settlement announced Thursday, LASD will maintain procedures designed to ensure concealed carry applications are processed under objective standards and without lengthy delays. The DOJ credited Sheriff Robert Luna’s department with putting additional personnel and new technology toward eliminating the backlog. The DOJ said its Second Amendment Section will continue accepting complaints from current and prospective gun owners who believe state or local governments have infringed their right to keep or bear arms. Fox News Digital reached out to the LASD for comment, but did not immediately receive a response. Fox News Digital’s Michael Dorgan contributed to this report.

Harvard, NYU among 30 universities hit with Pentagon foreign-tie audit deadline

Harvard, NYU among 30 universities hit with Pentagon foreign-tie audit deadline

The Pentagon on Monday ordered 30 American universities to conduct audits of their financial and research ties to foreign entities or risk losing federal research funding. The institutions must review the identified foreign collaborations and assess any exposure of “sensitive or export-controlled research.” “The Department of War has zero tolerance for academic partnerships that compromise our national security,” said Emil Michael, Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering. “Institutions that receive funding from American taxpayers must uphold the highest standards of research security, and these mandated audits will ensure accountability across the board.” According to a U.S. official, the schools subjected to the audit are: Georgetown University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of California, Berkeley, University of California, San Diego, University of Texas at Austin, Emory University, Harvard University, Oklahoma State University, Penn State University, University of California, Los Angeles, University of Cincinnati, University of Minnesota, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, University of South Carolina, University of Southern California, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Bryant University, Cornell University, Drake University, Duke University, Illinois Institute of Technology, Johns Hopkins University, New York University, Northeastern State University, Tahlequah (Oklahoma), Portland State University, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Stony Brook University, University of Delaware and University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. FOREIGN ROBOT BAN TARGETS CHINA OVER SECURITY FEARS The institutions must also implement plans to mitigate actions that violate national security protocols and, if necessary, terminate “problematic partnerships.” They are required to report their findings to the War Department by Aug. 31. Fox News Digital has reached out to the DOW and all 30 schools. “Universities are critical partners in executing a wide range of Department of War research programs, and the Department must therefore ensure that our research investments are well protected from foreign exploitation,” said Dr. Joseph Jewell, Assistant Secretary of War for Science and Technology. SCOPE OF CCP-BACKED CHINESE EXCHANGE PROGRAM INSIDE AMERICAN SCHOOLS UNCOVERED IN SWEEPING REPORT The audits target foreign entities named under Section 1286 of the Fiscal Year 2019 National Defense Authorization Act. The list identifies 130 academic and research institutions located in China, Russia, and Iran, which engage in “activities that increase the likelihood of U.S. government-funded research and development efforts being misappropriated.” A recent report said Harvard University failed to safeguard research collaborations with Chinese institutions, noting that researchers affiliated with the Ivy League school co-authored more than 140 publications with other researchers affiliated with a group of Chinese universities. Harvard also reportedly received more than $600 million from China under the federal Section 117 foreign-gift disclosure system—more than any other American university, according to the Education Department dashboard cited in the report from the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party. LAWMAKERS RAISE ALARM OVER NEVILLE ROY SINGHAM’S $278M NETWORK SPREADING CCP PROPAGANDA IN THE U.S. China has used outputs from U.S. artificial intelligence models to train its defense capabilities, Reuters reported in July. In recent years, many universities and colleges across the United States have shut their doors to their China-tied Confucius Institutes amid concerns over the centers’ funding connection to Beijing. Lawmakers have also raised alarms over tech mogul Neville Roy Singham’s $278 million network accused of spreading Chinese Communist Party propaganda in the U.S. The self-described goal of the institutes is to offer instruction to students on Chinese language and culture. A 2023 watchdog report detailed the rapid decline of Confucius Institutes at American colleges, which dropped from approximately 100 to fewer than five in just four years. The primary drivers for the closures were federal funding limitations established by National Defense Authorization Acts and increasing government pressure.