Ongoing border enforcement: Revocation of citizenship of convicted criminals

By Bethany Blankley
The Center Square

The Trump administration continues its multifaceted approach to border security and national security, including its concerted effort to denaturalize citizenship of convicted criminals.

The administration argues it’s the “largest denaturalization effort ever” in the history of the country.

The most recent 10 denaturalization actions have been filed in federal courts in Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah and Washington.

Cases were brought against men from Cuba, Mexico, Pakistan, Poland and Peru who were “accused of serious offenses – including sexual abuse of a child, health care and wire fraud, immigration fraud, and conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine,” the Department of Justice announced.

Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, a naturalized U.S. citizen’s citizenship may be revoked, and their certificate of naturalization canceled, if they obtained it through illegal means, including concealing material facts or willfully misrepresenting them. Those with criminal records are prohibited from obtaining citizenship, including felonies, violent crimes and any terrorist connections.

The latest group slated for denaturalization include “child sex abusers, a $900,000 Medicare fraudster, and a cocaine trafficker” and others who “lied their way into U.S. citizenship,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said. They each “lacked the good moral character required by law and procured citizenship through willful misrepresentations and concealment of their crimes.” The Department of Justice “will continue to aggressively pursue denaturalization to restore integrity to America’s naturalization process,” he said.

One includes a Cuban man who operated a purported medical clinic, submitted false and fraudulent claims to Medicare in excess of $886,694, concealed the crime during his naturalization process and provided false testimony under oath. He pleaded guilty and was convicted of conspiracy to commit healthcare and wire fraud.

Two Mexican men on the list include those who lied on their citizenship application that they never committed a crime for which they were arrested when one had been sentenced to 100 months in prison on cocaine charges and the other was convicted of 19 counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child, including his neighbors’ 7- and 8-year-old daughters.

Other Mexican men misrepresented or concealed criminal activity on their applications, including one who served jail time for carrying a concealed firearm and for grand theft; a priest convicted of sexual assault of a child and sentenced to 15 years in prison; one who committed identity theft to secure citizenship; and a convicted child abuser.

A Pakistani man slated for denaturalization “filed multiple applications for immigration benefits under different aliases” and fraudulently received multiple immigration benefits until a fingerprint expert identified the fraud. He pleaded guilty 12 years ago but was never denaturalized or deported.

A Peruvian man is also being denaturalized after he “repeatedly sexually abused his minor stepdaughter prior to naturalizing as a U.S. citizen” 11 years ago. He was found guilty and sentenced to 10 years in prison.

A Polish former Roman Catholic priest is also being denaturalized after he concealed criminal activity on his citizenship application, including defrauding three parishes in the Diocese of Rapid City, South Dakota, of nearly $260,000 in cash and secretly recording a 17-year-old showering during a church trip to Poland. He was convicted of multiple federal offenses, including wire fraud, making and subscribing a false tax return, and engaging in illicit sexual conduct in a foreign place involving a minor.

The denaturalization actions allege they all illegally procured U.S. citizenship.

Last month, 17 were identified to be denaturalized after being convicted of violent crimes, including child sex abuse, as well as wire and bank fraud, among other crimes.

They are from Cuba, Haiti, Colombia, Mexico, Yugoslavia, Jamaica, India, Dominican Republic, Somalia, China, Congo, Trinidad and Tobago and the Philippines. They are being prosecuted in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada and New Jersey, The Center Square reported.

In May, the DOJ moved to denaturalize 12 individuals for their support of terrorism, involvement in illegal arms deals and weapons smuggling, and a range of fraud crimes.

They are from Iraq, Colombia, Morocco, Somalia, Gambia, Bolivia, Uzbekistan, Kenya, India, China and Nigeria. Their cases are being prosecuted in Arizona, Florida, California, Minnesota, Kentucky, the District of Columbia, Pennsylvania, Iowa and Illinois.