The Justice Department of the government of Trump is expanding its campaign to revoke U.S. citizenship from naturalized immigrants accused of concealing ties to terrorism, violent crimes, immigration fraud, and other serious offenses during their naturalization process.
This offensive represents one of the most aggressive uses of denaturalization in modern U.S. history, as historically, this institute has been an uncommon resource. Between 1990 and 2017, the federal government filed just over 300 cases of this kind, averaging about 11 per year.
Denaturalization is a complex legal process. Government lawyers must file civil or criminal lawsuits in federal court and convince a judge that citizenship was obtained illegally or through fraud. In Trump's view, this legal mechanism is necessary to restore consequences within an immigration system that has been abused for decades.
Trump's Justice Department will revoke citizenship from naturalized citizens who committed crimes and other serious offenses
Zero tolerance for immigration fraud
The Justice Department is expected to open cases against approximately a dozen U.S. citizens born abroad, from countries such as Iraq, Somalia, China, India, Colombia, Uzbekistan, Morocco, Gambia, Kenya, Nigeria, and Bolivia. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche stated that those who presented falsehoods to become Americans will be pursued.
The head of the Justice Department invoked one of the most serious cases, that of Ali Yousif Ahmed, who obtained citizenship after claiming he fled Iraq in 2009 because Al Qaeda terrorists had attacked his family. Authorities now claim that the Iraqi government requested his extradition in 2019 after he killed two police officers while serving as a leader of Al Qaeda.
Another case is that of Salah Osman Ahmed, from Somalia, who naturalized in 2007 and later pleaded guilty in 2009 to providing material support to terrorists and belonging to Al Shabaab, a terrorist group designated by the United States.
For the Trump administration, joining a terrorist organization within five years of naturalization can be grounds for revoking citizenship. But also other immigrants who lied during the naturalization process and committed heinous crimes - like Oscar Alberto Peláez, a priest who sexually abused a minor - will also be targets.
In his statement, Blanche was clear: "Anyone who has intentionally concealed their criminal background or presented falsehoods during the naturalization process will face the full weight of the law".
