USA

Justice Department moves to strip 12 Americans of their citizenship

The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Friday that it is seeking to strip citizenship of a dozen people from around the country accused of fraudulently obtaining U.S. citizenship.

Federal prosecutors filed a lawsuit acts of denaturalization This week, 12 people were indicted in U.S. District Courts for allegedly lying during the naturalization process, including prior criminal behavior.

The Justice Department said the men, who ranged in age from 28 to 75, concealed serious crimes, including providing material support to a terrorist group, war crimes and sexual abuse of a minor, while seeking legal status.

They include former U.S. Ambassador to Bolivia Victor Manuel Rocha, a Colombian native who is serving a 15-year federal prison sentence after pleading guilty to charges related to his undercover spying for the Cuban government.

Others facing possible revocation of their citizenship include five natives of African countries, three from Asia and two from South America, according to the DOJ.

The Trump administration claims that these individuals should never have been eligible to become American citizens and that their status should therefore be revoked on the grounds that they were “illegally obtained or obtained by concealment or intentional misrepresentation of a material fact.”

“The Trump administration is taking action to correct these egregious violations of our immigration system,” said acting attorney general Todd Blanche. “Those who deliberately conceal their criminal pasts or misrepresent themselves during the naturalization process will face the fullest extent of the law.”

This week’s actions mark the latest move in the Trump administration’s effort to revoke the citizenship of naturalized immigrants.

Employees in the civil division of the Department of Justice redirected in a note A proposal was made in June to “maximally pursue denaturalization proceedings” outlining 10 categories of people who should be prioritized, including those of national security concern and people awaiting criminal charges.

The Department of Homeland Security was then instructed to make up to 200 referrals for potential denaturalization in December.

Unlike other immigration proceedings that take place in an administrative setting, the process can only occur in federal court. According to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the government has a “high burden of proof” when trying to revoke a person’s naturalization; Civil cases require “clear, convincing and unequivocal evidence which establishes the matter beyond doubt.”

Such actions are historically rare. Research shows The U.S. government filed an average of 11 denaturalization cases per year between 1990 and 2017; During the first Trump administration, that number rose to 25 per year.

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