President Donald Trump’s administration announced that it is seeking to revoke the citizenship of 17 US citizens accused of immigration fraud.
In addition to immigration fraud, the Department of Justice also focuses on people who committed sexual abuse of a minor.
“These foreign nationals lie about their past crimes, including drug dealers, sex offenders, and scammers. Obtaining U.S. citizenship is a privilege, and under President Trump’s strong leadership, this Department of Justice maintains a zero-tolerance policy for abuse of this process,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Todd Blanche.
This measure represents the largest effort to date by the US government to use its naturalization withdrawal powers.
Although federal law allows the Department of Justice to initiate denaturalization lawsuits, this process is usually complex, so there have been few cases in civil or criminal proceedings in federal courts.
The recent effort against 17 citizens indicates that they were convicted of violent or serious crimes, including sexual crimes against minors, in addition to fraud or accused of immigration fraud.
One of the arguments pointed out by the Department of Justice is that the people whose citizenship would be withdrawn are for lacking “good conduct,” a way of defining immigrants who have not committed crimes before the naturalization process.
Among those affected in recent citizenship revocation cases are a Haitian immigrant accused of sexually abusing his daughter.
There is also talk of a man from the former Yugoslavia convicted of sexually abusing a minor under 15 years of age; of a Mexican immigrant, a former Catholic priest born in Colombia and a man born in the Philippines, all accused of sexual conduct or inappropriate images with children.
It highlights that an Indian immigrant accused of submitting fraudulent H-1B visa applications, as well as the daughter of a Colombian drug trafficker accused of money laundering.
Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin stated that the Trump administration “will continue to use all available legal means to revoke citizenship and deport aliens.”
“American citizenship is a privilege that must be earned honestly. If you come here, break our laws and lie in your immigration paperwork, you lose that privilege,” said DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin. “DHS will not stand by while Americans are harmed by criminals, including sex offenders, fraudsters and drug traffickers who have exploited our generosity and manipulated our immigration system.”
The citizenship revocation process allows those affected to challenge applications, but they are extensive processes.
The 17 cases were prosecuted by the Department of Justice’s Office of Immigration Litigation, with assistance from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Administration (ICE) and several U.S. federal courts.
“Anyone who thinks they can defraud the naturalization process should reconsider. We will continue to pursue anyone who obtained U.S. citizenship illegally or fraudulently,” said Deputy Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division.
