법무부, 트럼프 행정부 출범 이후 최대 규모인 귀화시민 40명 시민권 박탈 소송 제기

Yusmary Shirley Duran Mejia (Age 47, Colombia): A case was filed in the Southern District of Florida to denaturalize Yusmary Shirley Duran Mejia for committing immigration fraud in her naturalization proceedings. Duran Mejia entered the United States in 2007 and naturalized in 2018. In 2019, she was charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering. During proceedings she admitted involvement in the illegal enterprise before she became a citizen. She was convicted in 2020 of conspiracy to commit money laundering for her efforts in concealing proceeds from unlawful activity. During naturalization proceedings, she lied about her criminal acts and provided false testimony.

Iain Lumsden (Age 50, United Kingdom): A case was filed in the District of Colorado to denaturalize Iain Lumsden. On or about Feb. 26, 2020, Lumsden knowingly transported a computer file with the visual depiction of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct. On Aug. 11, 2020, Lumsden admitted to law enforcement that he first viewed child pornography five to 10 years before Aug. 11, 2020, and admitted to conducting searches for child pornography before naturalizing. On Dec. 2, 2020, Lumsden was charged with one count of transportation of child pornography. He pleaded guilty on Aug. 27, 2021, and was sentenced to 108 months in federal prison. During the naturalization process, Lumsden lied about his criminal history and lied when he indicated he never provided false, fraudulent or misleading information to a U.S. Government official.

Gume Roberto Garza (Age 59, Mexico): A case was filed in the Southern District of Texas to denaturalize Gume Roberto Garza, also known as Gumercindo Garza Perez, also known as Gerardo Vasquez, also known as Gerardo Vazquez, for misrepresenting his identity and concealing his criminal history to secure citizenship. Before the naturalization process, Garza entered the United States illegally and secured and retained a Texas driver’s license bearing the name, Social Security number, and date of birth belonging to U.S. citizen Gerardo Vazquez. Garza, posing as Gerardo Vazquez, was arrested on multiple occasions for drug offenses. When he applied to naturalize in 2010, Garza concealed his use of an alias and prior criminal history. In 2013, Garza pleaded guilty to making a false under-oath statement in a naturalization matter.

Ramiro Escot Esparza (Age 60, Mexico): A case was filed in the Central District of California to denaturalize Ramiro Escot Esparza for illegally obtaining U.S. citizenship. Escot Esparza became a lawful permanent resident in 1990 and applied for citizenship in 2008. Escot Esparza concealed that he had engaged in multiple acts of sexual misconduct against a minor victim in his N-400, Application for Naturalization, and during his citizenship interview in 2009. After obtaining citizenship, Escot Esparza pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual abuse of a minor victim.

Javier Marrero-Pando (Age, 60, Cuba): A case was filed in the Middle District of Georgia to denaturalize Javier Marrero-Pando for failing to disclose during his naturalization proceedings that he had committed aggravated sodomy against a special needs man. He pleaded guilty in June 2022 to aggravated sodomy. Marrero-Pando admitted during his plea hearing that, in May 2020, he forced the victim to perform sexual acts against the victim’s will. He was sentenced to life in prison, with all but 15 years suspended. At his naturalization interview in October 2020, Marrero-Pando lied under oath that he had never committed a crime for which he had not been arrested.

Ahmad Bahar Khattak (Age 69, Pakistan): A complaint was filed in the Eastern District of Virginia to denaturalize Ahmad Bahar Khattak, also known as Bahar Ahmad and Said Umar Khan. The complaint alleges that his naturalization was illegally procured due to pre-existing removal proceedings, a lack of lawful permanent resident status, jurisdictional defects, statutory inadmissibility, a failure to demonstrate the requisite good moral character through criminal acts and false testimony under oath, and the willful concealment of material facts regarding his dual identity and prior deportation history. Bahar Khattak illegally procured his naturalization and willfully concealed material facts by engaging in a multi-decade fraudulent scheme utilizing dual identities to evade deportation and secure immigration benefits.

Ahmed Khan (Age 73, Pakistan): A case was filed in the Southern District of Ohio to denaturalize Ahmed Khan based on marriage fraud. After arriving in the United States from Pakistan in 1999, Khan secured a bogus death certificate for his still-living Pakistani wife and then married a U.S. citizen. Khan obtained permanent residence in 2002 based on that bigamous marriage by falsely representing both the death of his Pakistani wife and that he did not plan to practice polygamy in the United States. Khan unlawfully naturalized as a U.S. citizen in 2008 by failing to disclose his ongoing marriage to his Pakistani wife; providing false testimony; committing unlawful acts, including immigration fraud; and willfully misrepresenting material facts about his marriage history and other matters throughout his naturalization proceedings.

Balwinder Singh (Age, 55, India): A complaint was filed in the Eastern District of California to denaturalize Balwinder Singh for using a fraudulent identity to gain admission to the United States and to gain U.S. citizenship. In 1992, Singh submitted an immigration application under the identity of Balwinder Singh. In 2003, Singh sought and received lawful permanent resident status under a second identity. Fingerprints establish that Singh submitted both applications. In 2009, Singh naturalized under his second identity.

Jose Ramiro Montiel Carrasco (Age 57, Mexico): A complaint was filed in the Middle District of Florida to denaturalize Jose Ramiro Montiel Carrasco, who sexually abused a minor and committed incest before he naturalized. Montiel Carrasco failed to disclose his crimes throughout his naturalization process. After he naturalized, Montiel Carrasco was convicted in Florida state court for sexual battery and incest and sentenced to concurrent terms of eight and five years’ imprisonment. Montiel Carrasco’s abhorrent acts of sexual abuse began in or about 2000, when his victim was 14 or 15 years old. Throughout his naturalization proceedings, Montiel Carrasco failed to disclose material facts, including his unlawful acts, and he provided false testimony under oath.

Arnel Dacumos Tabafunda (Age 47, Philippines): A case was filed in the Central District of California to denaturalize Arnel Dacumos Tabafunda, based on sexual abuse of a child that Tabafunda failed to report during his naturalization proceedings. Before becoming a U.S. citizen, Tabafunda began sexually abusing a child under the age of 13. Because he concealed his crimes during his naturalization process, Tabafunda became a U.S. citizen in September 2005. After he naturalized, a jury found him guilty of two counts of committing lewd or lascivious acts upon a child under the age of 14 years, and he was sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment. Tabafunda was in a position of trust with the victim, and he abused that trust through his repeated acts of sexual abuse from February 2005 through November 2005.

Syed Mashood Ul Haque (Age 66, Pakistan): A complaint was filed in the Southern District of Florida to denaturalize Syed Ul Haque for using dual identities to violate U.S. immigration law. Ul Haque entered the United States on a tourist visa in 1993 under his current identity and overstayed this visa. In 1994, Ul Haque used the identity “Mashud Ahmad” to apply for asylum. When the government denied his asylum application, he failed to appear for his immigration hearing and evaded lawful deportation. After remaining illegally in the United States for decades, Ul Haque used his current identity to take advantage of a family-based immigration petition and become a lawful permanent resident in 2005. Ul Haque later naturalized as a U.S. citizen.

Douglas Chukwuka Eze (Age unknown, Citizenship Unknown/Adult): A complaint was filed in the District of Maryland to denaturalize Douglas Chukwuka Eze, also known as Anthony Chux Ezehez, for committing immigration fraud in his naturalization proceedings. In 2023, Eze was convicted of two counts of false swearing in immigration matter based on his admission that, in the 1990s, he stole a birth certificate belonging to Spencer Douglas Callaghan and used Callaghan’s identity to obtain immigration benefits.

Gilberto Barraza (Age 58, Mexico): A complaint was filed in the District of Arizona to denaturalize Gilberto Barraza for falsely claiming to be a U.S. citizen. Barraza entered the United States illegally in 1987 and applied for a U.S. passport in 1992. He submitted a forged California birth certificate and claimed to have been born in the United States. He later married a U.S. citizen and used that marriage to become a lawful permanent resident of the United States and eventually becoming a U.S. citizen in 2008, all by concealing and lying about his passport fraud.

Ifeolu Samuel Akingbemisilu (Age 58, Sierra Leone): A complaint was filed in the Northern District of Georgia to denaturalize Ifeolu Samuel Akingbemisilu, also known as John Samuel, Sylvester Akingbemisilu, and Anthony Davies, for committing immigration fraud. Before becoming a citizen in 2008, Akingbemisilu entered the United States and was ordered removed under the name Anthony Davies. He reentered the United States using a fraudulent British passport issued under the name John Samuel and married a U.S. citizen, then becoming a lawful permanent resident. He then changed his name during naturalization proceedings to Ifeolu Samuel Akingbemisilu and became a U.S. citizen.

Norma Patricia Esparza (Age 52, Mexico): A case was filed in the Central District of California to denaturalize Norma Patricia Esparza who committed voluntary manslaughter before she naturalized and failed to disclose her crimes throughout the naturalization process. After becoming a U.S. citizen, Esparza was convicted in California state court and was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment. Esparza failed to disclose material facts, including her unlawful acts, during naturalization proceedings, and provided false testimony under oath.

Johyce Martinez (Age 52, Venezuela): A complaint was filed in the District of Columbia to denaturalize Johyce Martinez, also known as Johyce Noreidis Sanchez, Raida Martinez, and Raida Martinez Riveron, for committing immigration fraud. Martinez is a native of Venezuela who entered the United States in 2006 using a fraudulent Cuban birth registration. She was unlawfully granted permanent residence under the Cuban Adjustment Act and maintained the fraudulent Cuban identity when she naturalized as a U.S. citizen in 2013.

Varis Jan Safi (Age 55, Afghanistan): A complaint was filed in the Eastern District of New York to denaturalize Varis Jan Safi, also known as Tariq Mehmood, of Valley Stream, New York, for illegally procuring his naturalization and willfully misrepresented and concealed material facts to USCIS during his naturalization process. Safi entered the United States in 1995 under the name of Tariq Mehmood using a forged Pakistani passport. When discovered, he confessed to be an Afghan national and was placed in exclusion proceedings. An immigration judge ordered him excluded from the United States in 1995. Instead of obeying the judge’s order and departing the United States, Safi fabricated a new identity, married a U.S. citizen, and used the marriage to become a lawful permanent resident. Safi never disclosed his multiple identities or simultaneous applications for immigration benefits, among other disqualifying behaviors and unlawful acts when under oath at his naturalization interview.

Walid Abdelnabbi Hassan Osman (Age 62, Egypt): A complaint was filed in the Eastern District of Virginia to denaturalize Walid Osman for committing visa fraud before becoming a U.S. citizen. Osman entered the United States on a tourist visa in 2001 before extending his stay and pursuing a fraudulent H-1B position with a company run by his family member that provided no meaningful employment to him. Osman instead worked as a taxi driver and enjoyed H-1B status in the United States until 2007. He became a permanent resident in 2009 through his spouse’s diversity visa and eventually naturalized as a U.S. citizen. Osman was not lawfully admitted as a permanent resident due to his visa fraud, and he lied about his fraudulent work history throughout his naturalization process.

Nadia Hassan Mohamed Ali (Age 59, Egypt): A case was filed in the Eastern District of Virginia to denaturalize Nadia Hassan Mohamed Ali for committing visa fraud before becoming a U.S. citizen. In 2001 and 2004, Ali sponsored a member of her family to work in H-1B status as an accountant for her company. However, this company conducted no business and provided no meaningful employment to the family member. Ali fraudulently filed work petitions for the purpose of allowing the family member to remain in the United States.

Beatrice Chioma Nwaoha Ashamole (Age 54, Nigeria): A complaint was filed in the District of Maryland to denaturalize Beatrice Chioma Nwaoha Ashamole for fraud and false testimony. Throughout her naturalization proceedings, Ashamole did not disclose prior aliases, prior arrests, a prior immigration benefits application, or prior exclusions and deportations, despite the application asking for such information.

Anita Moanjeh Atem (Age 48, Cameroon): A case was filed in the District of Maryland to denaturalize Anita Moanjeh Atem. Atem naturalized in 2009 by concealing that from 2004 to 2007, she had sexually abused a minor, a family and household member over whom she had permanent or temporary care and custody and responsibility. Atem was convicted of sexual abuse of a minor.

Dibya Bhattarai (Age 40, Nepal): A denaturalization action was filed in the Northern District of Texas to denaturalize Dibya Bhattarai. Bhattarai illegally secured citizenship by misrepresenting her criminal history throughout the naturalization process. When she applied to naturalize in 2008, Bhattarai claimed she had not committed any crime for which she had not yet been arrested. She later repeated that claim orally and under oath during her naturalization interview. Based on Bhattarai’s written application and testimony at her interview, she was approved for naturalization and became a U.S. citizen in September 2008. In March 2016, however, Bhattarai pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiracy to commit fraud in connection with immigration documents, a conspiracy that began in June 2007, over a year before her naturalization interview.

Syed Furqan Ali (Age, 74, Pakistan): A complaint was filed in the Southern District of Texas to naturalize Syed Furqan Ali after he entered into a fraudulent marriage to obtain U.S. citizenship unlawfully. In 1993, Ali sought naturalization based on his marriage to a U.S. citizen while still married to his first wife, a citizen of Pakistan. Ali had fabricated his divorce and former wife’s death to gain admission to the United States.

Raul Cisneros (Age, 76 Mexico): A complaint was filed in the Southern District of California to denaturalize Raul Cisneros. Cisneros became a U.S. citizen based on his representation in his naturalization application that he had never committed a crime for which he had not been arrested. In fact, before his naturalization application, Cisneros committed acts constituting lewd and lascivious acts on a minor. After obtaining citizenship, Cisneros was convicted of two felony counts in California, and sentenced to six years’ imprisonment.

Juan Jose Egusquiza-Vasquez (Age 36, Peru): A complaint was filed in the Southern District of Indiana to denaturalize Juan Jose Egusquiza-Vasquez. Egusquiza-Vasquez was admitted to the United States in November 2000 and subsequently became a lawful permanent resident. He then applied for naturalization in October 2010 and stated in his application that he had never committed a crime or offense for which he had not been arrested. His application was approved and he naturalized in May 2011. In November 2013, however, Egusquiza-Vasquez pleaded guilty to a charge of sexual battery involving a minor that occurred in March and April 2008, before his application for naturalization. He was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment.

Arnouse Merlien (Age 48, Haiti): A complaint was filed in the Southern District of Florida to denaturalize Arnouse Merlien for committing tax fraud during her naturalization proceedings. Merlien naturalized as a U.S. citizen in 2016. In 2018, in the Northern District of Georgia, Merlien was charged with and convicted of conspiracy to defraud the Government with respect to claims. In the years leading up to her naturalization, Merlien participated in a conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government by submitting fraudulent claims for income tax refunds with the IRS.

Francis Darko Asamoah (Age 56, Ghana): A complaint was filed in the Eastern District of Virginia to denaturalize Francis Darko Asamoah on his naturalization application. He lied on the application about whether he had children to shield inquiry into the legitimacy of his marriage to a U.S. citizen. Asamoah naturalized in 2013 after becoming a lawful permanent resident based on his marriage to a U.S. citizen. During his naturalization interview in 2013, Asamoah testified under oath that he had no children. However, a Virginia Certificate of Live Birth listed Asamoah as the father of a child born in July 2011. The mother of the child was not his U.S. citizen spouse. Shortly after naturalization, Asamoah divorced his U.S. citizen spouse. Asamoah’s false testimony during his naturalization proceedings prevented immigration authorities from investigating the bona fides of the marriage to his U.S. citizen spouse.

Ralph Nabavi (Age 69, Iran): A complaint was filed in the Southern District of Florida to denaturalize Ralph Nabavi for unlawfully evading paying federal income taxes before he became a U.S. citizen in 2014. In 2019, he was charged with tax evasion for underreporting at least $12.5 million dollars in income and underpaying $3.5 million in federal income taxes. Nabavi pleaded guilty admitting that he began transferring funds from his business to personal accounts to avoid paying income taxes beginning in 2013 before he naturalized in 2014.

Gracia de Rodriguez (Age 52, Mexico): A complaint was filed in the District of Arizona to denaturalize Consuela Gracia de Rodriguez. Gracia de Rodriguez lied to U.S. government officials for over 20 years about her spouse’s identity and citizenship, falsely claiming that he was a U.S. citizen to obtain immigration benefits, U.S. citizenship, and a U.S. passport. On June 24, 2019, Gracia de Rodriguez pleaded guilty to passport fraud. In criminal proceedings, Gracia de Rodriguez admitted that her spouse was a Mexican citizen, not a U.S. citizen, whom she married in Mexico. She further admitted that she and her spouse later illegally entered the United States, where her spouse proceeded to steal the identity of a U.S. citizen. She admitted that she knowingly and willfully married her spouse a second time in the United States under his stolen identity and then used her spouse’s stolen identity to adjust her status to that of a lawful permanent resident and later to naturalize.

Jinchao Wei (Age 26, China): A case was filed in the Southern District of California to denaturalize Jinchao Wei because he conducted espionage on behalf of the Chinese government. Wei, a native of China, enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 2021, just before his twenty-first birthday. By February 2022, he had begun conspiring to sell military secrets to China. By concealing his crimes, he obtained U.S. citizenship just two months later in May 2022, through a law intended to expedite the naturalization of individuals serving honorably in the U.S. armed forces. After his espionage scheme was discovered, he was arrested and convicted in August 2025 of conspiracy to commit espionage, espionage, and unlawful export of technical data related to defense articles. He was sentenced to 200 months in prison and discharged from the Navy.

Jose Villarreal Ortiz (Age 49, Mexico): A case was filed in the Southern District of Florida to denaturalize Jose Villarreal Ortiz. Villarreal was admitted to lawful permanent resident status as the child of a U.S. citizen based on a false claim that his aunt, who is a naturalized U.S. citizen, was his mother and that he had remained in Mexico until 1996, when in fact he had been in the United States illegally for nearly a decade. During naturalization proceedings, Villarreal falsely claimed that his parent was a U.S. citizen, that he had never lied to U.S. officials to gain admission or entry, and that he had never provided false or misleading information to government officials. As a result, Villarreal was naturalized.

Sorsamkhan Som (Age 67, Cambodia): A case was filed in the Southern District of Texas to denaturalize Sorsamkhan Som for entering into a fraudulent marriage to unlawfully obtain U.S. citizenship. In 2009, Som sought naturalization based on his marriage to a U.S. citizen while still married to his first wife, a citizen of Cambodia. In fact, Som fabricated his divorce to gain admission to the United States. The complaint against Som alleges five counts that includes his unlawful adjustment as a permanent resident and false testimony at his naturalization interview that he was divorced and legally married to his second wife at the time of his admission into the United States.

Lazaro Trujillo Viton (Age 40, Cuba): A complaint was filed in the District of Columbia to denaturalize Lazaro Eduardo Trujillo Viton. Trujillo concealed throughout the naturalization process that he was involved in a conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and that he himself submitted fraudulent Medicare claims for reimbursement. He was convicted after naturalization. Because Trujillo committed these crimes before naturalization and concealed his involvement, he lacked the good moral character necessary to naturalize.

Dexter Anson (Age 72, Ghana): A complaint was filed in the District of Connecticut to denaturalize Dexter Anson. Anson failed to disclose in his diversity visa application and subsequent naturalization proceedings that he applied for immigration benefits and was ordered deported under his prior identity. He illegally procured naturalization because he was not lawfully admitted for permanent residence. Anson was ineligible for a diversity visa because he lied and applied for immigration benefits under the name George Opoku. He also provided false testimony at his naturalization interview when he failed to disclose his prior deportation proceedings and deportation order under George Opoku.

Andrew Coldicutt (Age 46, Canada): A case was filed in the Southern District of California to denaturalize Andrew Coldicutt. Coldicutt became a U.S. citizen based on his misrepresentations in his naturalization application and interviews that he had never committed a crime for which he had not been arrested and that he had never provided false or misleading information to a U.S. government official. In fact, before his naturalization application, Coldicutt had engaged in stock fraud schemes, including a pump-and-dump scheme and a gypsy swap, that involved filing false securities registration forms and wire fraud and that resulted in an FBI investigation against him. After he obtained citizenship, a jury convicted Coldicutt of securities fraud, making false securities registration, and wire fraud in the Southern District of California.

Ping Li (Age 61, China): A case was filed complaint in the Middle District of Florida to denaturalize Ping Li for conspiring to act as an agent of a foreign government without prior notification to the attorney general. From at least as early as 2012, Li worked at the direction of officers of the Ministry of State Security (MSS) of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to obtain information of interest to the PRC government, including information about Chinese dissidents and pro-democracy advocates, members of the Falun Gong religious movement, and U.S.-based non-governmental organizations, and to report that information to the MSS. Li also provided the MSS with sensitive information obtained from his employers, a major U.S. telecommunications company and an international information technology company. On Aug. 19, 2024, Li pleaded guilty to acting as an agent of the PRC without prior notification to the attorney general.

Hernan Garcia Toledo (Age, 53, Mexico): A case was filed in the Eastern District of California to denaturalize Hernan Garcia Toledo. Garcia falsely represented throughout his naturalization proceedings that he had never been arrested or convicted of any crimes. He failed to disclose that he had previously been arrested and convicted of two crimes, carrying a concealed weapon and carrying a loaded firearm, on his naturalization application and during his naturalization interview. After his naturalization interview but before naturalization, he was arrested and charged with two additional firearms-related offenses and failed to disclose those arrests and pending charges during his naturalization proceedings. He was also convicted of a firearms offense after his naturalization.

Semiu Olaiye Ijelu (Age 58, Nigeria): A complaint was filed in the Northern District of Georgia to denaturalize Semiu Olaiye Ijelu, also known as Semiu O. Ijelu and Olaiya S. Ijelu, immigration fraud in naturalization proceedings. Before he became a citizen, Ijelu sought immigration benefits under two separate identities and was ordered removed. Instead of departing the United States, he married a U.S. citizen, which he used to adjust status to lawful permanent resident, and naturalized in 2009. He did not disclose the other identities or the final removal order during naturalization proceedings.

Ramon Navarro (Age 68, Philippines): A case was filed in the Eastern District of California to denaturalize Ramon Navarro for entering into a fraudulent marriage to obtain citizenship. Navarro entered into a fraudulent marriage to gain lawful permanent resident status and then used that fraudulent status to obtain citizenship.

Assad Jhon Ramin (Age, 57 or 58, Afghanistan) A complaint was filed in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania to denaturalize Assad Jhon Ramim for perpetrating an identity fraud spanning almost 30 years. Ramim sought and obtained a series of immigration benefits, culminating in citizenship, claiming he was Ahmad Shah Kohistany. As part of his naturalization process, he changed his name from Ahmed Shah Kohistani to Assad Jhon Ramim, which was his real name all along, and it was never Ahmad Shah Kohistani. Ramim stole the identity of another Afghan national without that individual’s knowledge or consent.