Two aliens, illegal or not, have been arrested and indicted for voting in Waukegan. Local police are on the job. Federal authorities however are not.

Chicago Tribune December 16, 2011 by By Ruth Fuller and Duaa Eldeib

Waukegan Couple From Iran Plead Not Guilty To Voter Fraud

Admitted noncitizens and 'very conscientious voters' could face prison, deportation

A Waukegan couple who are Iranian immigrants could face up to five years in prison and deportation if found guilty of falsifying documents on voter applications.

Mahmoud Vakili, 67, and his wife Parvin Vakili, 62, pleaded not guilty in Lake County on Wednesday to charges of perjury of the election code and mutilation of election material. They were charged in early November, officials said.

During Wednesday's hearing, Judge John Phillips asked the couple if they were U.S. citizens, to which each responded: "No, sir, I am not." Both said they were born in Iran.

According to the Lake County Clerk's office, Mahmoud Vakili first registered to vote in Lake County in 1988 and his wife in 1992.

Since then, Mahmoud Vakili has voted five times and Parvin Vakili seven times, Clerk Willard Helander said. They most recently voted in 2010.

"They were very conscientious general-election voters," Helander said.

Law enforcement officials were tipped off after the Vakilis' son requested a letter from the clerk's office to confirm his own voter registration status, Helander said.

Of more import is that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is ignoring the law and allowing the two to continue their naturalization applications:

As part of the citizenship process, if someone admits to or is suspected of having registered to vote without being a U.S. citizen, that person is required to submit a letter certifying his or her voter registration status, a spokesman for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said. Foreign nationals are forbidden by law to vote in national or state elections.

As previously documented, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services continues to ignore the law. Any alien who votes in an election is deportable and prohibited from naturalization. Instead, USCIS informs said aliens that their application for naturalization will be held in abeyance until the contact their Registrar of Voters and have their names removed. USCIS is supposed to deny the application and then place the alien in removal proceedings either itself or report the aliens to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for removal. However, neither has occurred and the two illegal aliens appear to be beneficiaries of the administrative amnesty.

You can contact the ICE Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent-in-Charge Gary Hartwig here and demand he take action:

1 North Tower Lane

Suite 1600

Oakbrook Terrace, IL 60181

Main (630) 574-4600

Fax (630) 574-2889

And you can call the Chicago District Director Ruth Dorochoff for USCIS here and express your concern:

101 West Congress Parkway

Chicago, IL 60605