An illegal immigrant, Angelica Maria Francisco, has reached a plea agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice to plead guilty to charges related to stealing a U.S. citizen's identity to vote in multiple elections and fraudulently obtain an American passport. The 42-year-old individual is facing a nine-count information filed in federal court for false claims of citizenship in connection with voting, false statements in application for a United States passport, use of a United States passport obtained by false statements, and aggravated identity theft.
Francisco is accused of assuming the identity of a U.S. citizen in 2011 to obtain an American passport, which she used to travel to and from Guatemala in 2012, 2015, and 2018. She also allegedly registered to vote in Alabama in 2016 and voted in the 2016 and 2020 primary and general elections. In 2021, she applied for and received a renewed passport using the same false identity to travel to and from Guatemala in 2022.
The State Department's Diplomatic Security Service investigated the case with assistance from various law enforcement agencies. Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen, a Republican, has made election integrity a top priority and has been vocal about his concerns regarding federal Executive Order 14019, which requires state agencies receiving federal funding to send out voter registration information without verifying citizenship. Republicans argue that this order essentially mobilizes the federal government to become voter registration agencies.
Allen has also supported legislation such as the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which aims to require states to obtain proof of citizenship in person when registering individuals to vote and remove non-citizens from existing voter rolls. Prominent conservative senators have pushed for the SAVE Act to be attached to a spending bill extension to secure elections and avoid a government shutdown.
The case of Angelica Maria Francisco highlights the ongoing debate surrounding election integrity and the measures being taken to ensure that only eligible American citizens are voting in elections.