The Department of Justice has filed a civil denaturalization complaint against Gurdev Singh Sohal, also known as Dev Singh and Boota Singh Sundu. According to the Justice Department, Sohal obtained U.S. citizenship in 2005 after previously being ordered deported in 1994 under the name Dev Singh. Instead of leaving the country following his deportation order, Sohal allegedly assumed a new identity with a different name, date of birth, and date of entry into the United States.
Authorities state that Sohal did not disclose his prior immigration history under the Dev Singh identity in any subsequent immigration applications or proceedings when he later naturalized as Gurdev Sohal. Expert analysis conducted in February 2020 determined that fingerprints submitted under both identities belonged to the same person. This determination became possible after the Department of Homeland Security digitized older paper fingerprint documents from immigration files.
Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division said, “If you lie to the government or hide your identity so that you can naturalize, this Administration will find you and strip you of your fraudulently acquired U.S. citizenship.”
The complaint alleges that Sohal was never lawfully admitted for permanent residence and made false statements throughout his naturalization process, making him ineligible to demonstrate good moral character required for citizenship. It also charges him with procuring naturalization through concealment or willful misrepresentation regarding his previous identity and immigration proceedings.
This is reported as the ninth denaturalization action filed by the department since January 20.
The investigation was part of the Historic Fingerprint Enrollment project—a national initiative between the Justice Department and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). The case is being prosecuted by lawyers from the Justice Department’s Office of Immigration Litigation, General Litigation and Appeals Section, Affirmative Litigation Unit, with assistance from USCIS and support from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington.
