Early on Monday morning, federal agents pounded on the door of 72-year-old Omar Muñoz’s home in Commerce, California. Armed officers had surrounded his house before dawn and were threatening to break down the front door unless he came out. When he answered, the agents handcuffed and dragged the lawful permanent resident from Belize out of his home, still in his pajamas, parading him in front of their own government film crew and other media who had been tipped off to document the raid.
As reporters for the Los Angeles Times put it, Muñoz
described seeing helicopters, at least eight cars and several agents from different agencies descending on his home, and recalled thinking, “What movie am I in?”
The movie in which he was made into an unwilling cast member is President Trump’s “Operation Protect the Vote.” Muñoz is accused of fraudulently registering to vote and casting ballots, allegations he denies. His daughter immediately recognized why this was happening: “They’re trying to instill fear in society,” she said. Her father is being used as a propaganda tool.
The MAGA-friendly California Post,1 which was granted the exclusive story, crowed about the access: “Inside the biggest voter fraud bust in California’s history—as network of 28 democracy-defying cons are snared.” In these statewide raids, authorities charged only 28 green card holders, including Muñoz, among California’s 23 million registered voters.
The arrests were carried out by squads from Homeland Security Investigations, the investigative arm of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. HSI’s primary responsibility is supposed to be investigating serious cross-border criminal activity. But under the Trump administration, HSI has been given very different tasks—like investigating campus protesters, spying on critics of the administration, and executing the recent pre-dawn raid on Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar’s home.
And the 28 individuals charged in California are not the end of the administration’s use of HSI late in this campaign season: HSI agents have reportedly fanned out across the country to go to people’s homes to ask about their immigration status, voter registration, and past voting.
This isn’t ICE at the polls on Election Day. It’s DHS on doorsteps now. It’s dangerous election interference.
The good news: It’s possible to fight these lawless intrusions and to win. But to fight them, you need to understand them first. Here’s what you should know.
