DOJ Denaturalizes Salah Osman Ahmed Over Concealed Al-Shabaab Support And Misrepresentation

The U.S. Department of Justice filed denaturalization actions in various U.S. district courts against 12 individuals accused of concealing terrorist support, war crimes, espionage, sexual abuse, and other crimes, with Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche saying the cases seek to correct “egregious violations.”

“Bassyonni9 May 2026 Bassyonni9 May 2026 Bassyonni9 May 2026 Bassyonni9 May 2026 Bassyonni9 May 2026 Bassyonni9 May 2026 Bassyonni9 May 2026 Bassyonni9 May 2026 Bassyonni9 May 2026 Bassyonni9 May 2026 Bassyonni9 May 2026 Bassyonni9 May 2026 Bassyonni9 May 2026 Bassyonni9 May 2026 Bassyonni9 May 2026 Bassyonni9 May 2026 Bassyonni9 May 2026 Bassyonni9 May 2026 Bassyonni9 May 2026 Bassyonni8 May 2026 Bassyonni9 May 2026 Bassyonni9 May 2026 Bassyonni9 May 2026 Bassyonni9 May 2026 Bassyonni8 May 2026 The Trump administration escalated its sweeping denaturalization campaign on Friday, May 8, 2026, filing federal cases against a dozen naturalized US citizens accused of concealing terrorist ties, war crimes, espionage, and sexual abuse during the naturalization process”

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Among those targeted is Salah Osman Ahmed, 43, whom the DOJ says admitted traveling to Somalia in 2007 to fight with al-Shabaab and pleaded guilty on July 28, 2009 to providing material support to terrorists.

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The DOJ press release says the legal basis for revocation is that a naturalized U.S. citizen’s citizenship may be revoked and the certificate of naturalization canceled if it was “illegally procured or procured by concealment of a material fact or by willful misrepresentation.”

In the Ahmed case, the DOJ says it learned that in 2015 he illegally procured his naturalization because he lied under oath about his criminal and family history when he sought admission and naturalized as a U.S. citizen.

Fox 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul reported that Ahmed’s attorney, Daniel Gerdts, called the effort “It’s ridiculous,” saying “They have the facts wrong, and they have the law wrong.”

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in the DOJ’s statement that “Those who intentionally concealed their criminal histories or misrepresented themselves during the naturalization process will face the fullest extent of the law.”

Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate added that the Justice Department “continues to file denaturalization actions at record speeds to restore integrity in our naturalization process.”

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The Hill described the DOJ’s move as seeking to denaturalize a dozen people from various parts of the country, saying federal prosecutors filed denaturalization actions in U.S. District Courts across the country this week against 12 people alleging they lied during the naturalization process.

The DOJ press release also framed the cases as involving serious offenses, stating it filed denaturalization actions “including providing material support to a terrorist group, committing war crimes, and sexually abusing a minor.”

In the Fox 9 report, the DOJ said Ahmed “was not attached to the principles of the U.S. Constitution when he naturalized in 2007,” and that “Just months after he naturalized, Ahmed began providing material support to terrorists.”

The DOJ press release listed multiple defendants and allegations beyond Ahmed, including Oscar Alberto Pelaez, a Colombian Roman Catholic priest, whom the DOJ says sexually abused a child multiple times from the time the child was 14 until he was 17.

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The DOJ said Pelaez pleaded guilty in 2002 to 13 counts of sexual assault against a child, and that he lied about the commission of these crimes in connection with his naturalization application.

The DOJ also detailed Khalid Ouazzani, a 48-year-old native of Morocco, saying that when he applied for U.S. citizenship in 2005 and again when he naturalized in 2006, he swore attachment to the principles of the Constitution, which the DOJ says were false because he was planning ways to support Al‑Qaida by 2003.

For Ouazzani, the DOJ press release said that by 2007—just one year after he naturalized—he sent Al‑Qaida tens of thousands of dollars in financial support with money he had fraudulently obtained, and that in 2008 he took an oath of allegiance to the terrorist organization.

The Hill reported that the DOJ said the targeted individuals range in age from 28 to 75 years and that the Trump administration claims these people never should have qualified to become American citizens, so their status should be revoked because it was “illegally procured or procured by concealment of a material fact or by willful misrepresentation.”