The Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice announced on July 20 denaturalization actions against 10 individuals accused of offenses such as child sexual abuse, fraud, immigration violations, and drug trafficking. The complaints were filed in various U.S. district courts over the last month.
Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, a naturalized citizen’s status may be revoked if citizenship was illegally obtained or acquired through concealment or misrepresentation of material facts during the naturalization process.
“When you commit fraud during the naturalization process, you forfeit the right to keep your U.S. citizenship,” said DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin. “These criminal aliens, comprised of drug traffickers, pedophiles, and fraudsters, lost that right and exploited our immigration system—harming real U.S. citizens. DHS is committed to ensuring we denaturalize and remove these fraudsters with every tool at our disposal,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said: “These ten criminal aliens — including child sex abusers, a nearly $900,000 Medicare fraudster, and a cocaine trafficker — lied their way into U.S. citizenship. Each of these individuals lacked the good moral character required by law and procured citizenship through willful misrepresentations and concealment of their crimes. Under President Trump’s leadership, this Department of Justice will continue to aggressively pursue denaturalization to restore integrity to America’s naturalization process.” Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate added: “We refuse to give a free pass to criminals who cheated their way into American citizenship… We’ve only scratched the surface — many more complaints are coming.”
Among those named are Yoskmaikel Rodriguez Perez (Cuba), convicted for healthcare fraud; Ceflo Luviano-Mojica (Mexico), convicted for providing false information in his application; Urbano Vazquez Ortega (Mexico), convicted for multiple counts of child sexual abuse; Murtaza Ali (Pakistan), charged with making false statements using multiple identities; Jimmy Aguero (Peru), found guilty on eight counts related to sexual abuse; Antonio Alcantara-Ruiz (Mexico), accused of identity misrepresentation; Omar Cantu-Montalvo (Mexico), pleaded guilty in federal court for conspiracy involving cocaine distribution; Franscisco Montano (Mexico), convicted on aggravated sexual assault charges against a minor; Marcin Stanislaw Garbacz (Poland), convicted for theft from church parishes as well as illicit conduct involving a minor; Martin Garcia Cardiel (Mexico), convicted on nineteen counts relating to aggravated sexual abuse.
The complaints were filed across districts including Southern Districts of Florida and Texas, Northern Districts of Georgia and Texas, Western Districts of Pennsylvania and Washington State among others.
Authorities emphasized that all claims made in these legal actions are allegations only at this stage, with no determination yet regarding liability.