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DOJ targets 17 citizens
The U.S. Justice Department announced Monday it will move to revoke citizenship from 17 naturalized people accused of crimes including sex offences, fraud, and illicit drug sales, in what the administration described as its largest-ever denaturalization effort.
“Since President Donald Trump returned to office, his administration has doubled down on its denaturalization campaign, targeting foreign-born American citizens whom it accuses of fraudulently obtaining US citizenship”
CBS News said the Trump administration launched the plans seeking to revoke the citizenship of 17 U.S. citizens accused of immigration fraud, expanding its use of denaturalization powers that were rarely invoked before Trump returned to the White House.
CNN said the administration has doubled down on its denaturalization campaign since President Donald Trump returned to office, targeting foreign-born American citizens whom it accuses of fraudulently obtaining U.S. citizenship.
The Hill reported that federal prosecutors filed denaturalization actions in various U.S. District Courts, alleging the individuals targeted committed serious offenses including sexual abuse of a minor, drug trafficking, and concealing past criminal activity during naturalization.
ABC7 Bay Area reported that denaturalization can only occur in federal court and is rare, with the process described as revoking citizenship from a naturalized U.S. citizen.
Blanche and Mullin respond
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said, "This Department of Justice maintains a zero-tolerance policy for the abuse of this process," as the DOJ moved to strip citizenship from 17 people.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said the administration "will continue to use every lawful avenue to denaturalize and remove aliens," framing the effort as consequences for those who violate immigration proceedings.
The Hill quoted Mullin saying, "American citizenship is a privilege, and it must be earned honestly," and said the administration pointed to the Immigration and Nationality Act to invoke denaturalization powers.
ABC7 Bay Area reported that officials say some of the people targeted are accused of committing fraud and sexual abuse of a minor, and that the administration has doubled down on denaturalization since Trump returned to office.
CBS News said the denaturalization process allows targeted citizens to challenge the government’s filings to try to retain their citizenship, and that if U.S. citizens are denaturalized they return to their prior immigration status, typically as permanent U.S. residents.
Who’s targeted, what’s at risk
The Hill named Leidys Delmas Garcia, a Cuban-native convicted for her role in a $36 million health care fraud conspiracy scheme in Florida, as one of the 17 naturalized citizens targeted.
“The Justice Department announced Monday that it will move to revoke citizenship from 17 people nationwide, marking the latest move in the Trump administration’s unprecedented push to target naturalized citizens”
The Hill also named Andrea Marroquin, the daughter of a major Colombian drug trafficker, who faces possible revocation of her citizenship for allegedly using her inheritance to fund fraudulent real estate transactions in Florida, as well as conspiring to commit bank fraud and money laundering.
News of the United States said the individuals targeted hail from Cuba, Haiti, Colombia, Mexico, Yugoslavia, Jamaica, India, the Dominican Republic, Somalia, China, Congo, Trinidad and Tobago and the Philippines, and it named Neeraj Sharma as accused of fraudulently signing and filing 11 H-1B visa petitions through a staffing company.
CBS News listed additional allegations in federal court complaints, including a Haitian immigrant accused of sexually abusing his daughter and a former Catholic priest born in Colombia accused of child sex abuse.
ABC7 Bay Area said under the Biden administration the Justice Department filed 24 denaturalization cases, and it reported that the Trump administration has already outpaced that within the last year, including a May move to denaturalize a dozen individuals.
