USCIS与司法部对隐瞒恐怖主义支持、战争罪等罪行的12人提起剥夺公民身份诉讼

Ali Yousif Ahmed Al-Nouri (Age 48/Iraq): On May 8, DOJ and the U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona filed a civil denaturalization complaint in the U.S. District Court in Phoenix against Ali Yousif Ahmed, a native of Iraq. Ahmed entered the U.S. in 2009, claiming that he and his family were attacked by Al-Qaida terrorists in Iraq. In 2019, the Republic of Iraq asked the U.S. to extradite Ahmed to Iraq to face criminal charges for the premeditated murder of two Iraqi police officers in 2006. Iraq alleges that Ahmed committed the murders in his role as a leader in Al-Qaida. Ahmed illegally procured his naturalization in 2015 by lying under oath about his criminal and family history when seeking admission to the U.S. and when naturalizing.

Oscar Alberto Pelaez (Age 75/Colombia): The U.S. filed to denaturalize Oscar Alberto Pelaez, a Colombian Roman Catholic priest who sexually abused a child on multiple occasions from 1998 to 2000, beginning when the child was 14 until he was 17 years old. In 2002, Pelaez pleaded guilty to and was convicted of 13 counts of sexual assault against a child, including two counts of oral copulation with a person under 18 years of age, and two counts of sodomy of a person under 18 years of age. Pelaez lied about committing these crimes in connection with his naturalization application. The U.S. has brought four claims against Pelaez seeking his denaturalization, including that he lacked the good moral character to become a U.S. citizen and that he knowingly lied to immigration authorities.

Khalid Ouazzani (Age 48/Morocco): When Khalid Ouazzani, a native of Morocco, applied for U.S. citizenship in 2005 and again when he naturalized in 2006, he swore to his attachment to the principles of the Constitution. Those oaths were false because, as early as 2003, Ouazzani was planning ways to support Al-Qaida with two men who were later convicted of trying to bomb the New York Stock Exchange. By 2007, just one year after he naturalized, he sent Al-Qaida tens of thousands of dollars in financial support with money that he had fraudulently obtained, and in 2008, he took an oath of allegiance to Al-Qaida. In May 2010, Ouazzani pleaded guilty to bank fraud, money laundering, and providing material support to Al-Qaida. The denaturalization complaint filed against Ouazzani alleges that he gave false testimony during his naturalization proceedings about his attachment to the Constitution. His affiliation and membership with Al-Qaida within five years of his naturalization is evidence that he lacked the required attachment to the Constitution.

Salah Osman Ahmed (Age 43/Somalia): Ahmed was not attached to the principles of the U.S. Constitution when he naturalized in 2007. Just months after he naturalized, Ahmed began providing material support to terrorists. Ahmed traveled to Somalia to fight and kill Ethiopians and joined the terrorist group Al-Shabab. On July 28, 2009, he pleaded guilty to providing material support to terrorists. Ahmed’s membership in or affiliation with Al-Shabab within five years of naturalization would have prevented him from naturalizing. Joining Al-Shabab shortly after his naturalization shows that Ahmed obtained his citizenship by concealing material facts and willful misrepresentation.

Baboucarr Mboob (Age 58/Gambia): On Nov. 11, 1994, Baboucarr Mboob, a native of The Gambia and a military police officer in the Gambian army, participated—along with 15 other soldiers—in the execution of six officers, following orders from his commanding officer, who believed the victims were plotting a counter-coup against then-President Yahya Jammeh. The executions were carried out without giving the victims the benefit of a trial. Mboob concealed his involvement in war crimes and acts of persecution throughout his immigration and naturalization proceedings after entering the U.S. in 2002 and naturalizing in 2011. In testimony before a hearing of The Gambian Truth, Reconciliation, and Reparations Commission held on April 9, 2019, Mboob admitted to executing his six fellow officers. The U.S. is seeking to revoke his certificate of naturalization because he obtained his citizenship illegally by concealing material fact and willfully misrepresenting his military background.

Kevin Robin Suarez (Age 31/Bolivia): Beginning in May 2016, and continuing for 10 months after his January 2017 naturalization, Kevin Robin Suarez engaged in a conspiracy to purchase firearms through straw purchasers to eventually export the firearms to Bolivia and other Latin American countries. Working with his sister, Suarez solicited individuals to purchase firearms on their behalf from licensed federal firearms dealers and provided those firearms to his father. These firearms were part of a larger network of gun trafficking from South Florida to Bolivia by Bolivian nationals in the U.S. Once the guns were in Bolivia, they were often sent to drug trafficking organizations in Brazil, Paraguay, and Peru, fueling drug violence there. Suarez pled guilty to conspiracy to cause false statements to be made to federally licensed firearms dealers in February 2020. He illegally obtained his naturalization because his crime means he did not have the required good moral character to naturalize. Also, Suarez falsely testified under oath and misrepresented and concealed facts that were material to determining his naturalization eligibility.

Abduvosit Razikov (Age 46/Uzbekistan): In 2005, Abduvosit Razikov, a native of Uzbekistan, paid a U.S. citizen to enter into a sham marriage with him so that he could obtain permanent residency in the U.S. In 2007, Razikov paid another U.S. citizen to enter into a sham marriage with Razikov’s actual romantic partner, enabling her to enter the U.S. from Uzbekistan. In 2010, Razikov divorced his U.S. citizen “wife,” and in 2012, he became a naturalized citizen. Months later, Razikov arranged a third sham marriage, this time marrying another Uzbekistani woman (not his own romantic partner) so she could obtain immigration benefits. The denaturalization complaint filed against Razikov alleges that he never lawfully acquired the permanent resident status required to naturalize due to his sham marriage and immigration fraud; that his unlawful acts and false testimony prevented him from establishing the good moral character required for naturalization; and that he obtained his citizenship by concealing or willfully misrepresenting material facts.

Abdallah Osman Sheikh (Age 28/Kenya): Abdallah Osman Sheikh unlawfully obtained his naturalization by concealing a material fact or through willful misrepresentation. In July 2019, before he naturalized, but while he was serving in the U.S. Marine Corps, Sheikh possessed indecent digital images of two minor individuals and posted an indecent digital image of one of them to his social media account. These crimes, along with his efforts to conceal them from the government during his naturalization proceedings, warrant Sheikh’s denaturalization. Additionally, Sheikh obtained naturalization based on his military service, but later received an other than honorable discharge (for misconduct) from the Marine Corps after failing to serve honorably for five years, further warranting his denaturalization.

Debashis Ghosh (Age 62/India): Before Debashis Ghosh naturalized, he conspired to defraud investors of $2.5 million intended for the construction of an aircraft maintenance facility. After naturalizing, Ghosh, a native of India, continued the fraudulent scheme, misrepresenting the location and safekeeping of the investor funding. In his 2012 naturalization application and interview, Ghosh claimed that he had never committed a crime or offense for which he had not been arrested. The denaturalization complaint against Ghosh alleges that he is subject to denaturalization because during the period in which he was statutorily required to demonstrate good moral character, he committed a crime involving moral turpitude, committed unlawful acts that adversely reflected on his moral character, and falsely testified about his crime. Additionally, Ghosh willfully misrepresented the material fact of his crime during his naturalization proceedings.

Pin He (Age 53/China): After he was ordered removed under the name Chun Di He in 1992, Pin He applied for an immigration benefit the following year under a different identity. That application was granted, and in 2007, he obtained permanent residence. In 2013, he naturalized under the identity and immigration history of Pin He, without ever disclosing his prior removal order under the name Chun Di He. He obtained his citizenship after concealing his prior identity and misrepresenting his eligibility for citizenship.

George Ofuan Oyakhire (Age 66/Nigeria): George Ofuan Oyakhire was born in Nigeria and first entered the United States on Oct. 18, 1986, using a visa issued in his true name. On Sept. 2, 1988, Oyakhire obtained temporary resident status using a false name, “Oliver Bennett Oyakhire,” and a false date of birth. On Dec. 1, 1990, Oyakhire became a lawful permanent resident using the false identity. On Sept. 12, 1995, Oyakhire filed an application for naturalization under the false identity. That application was approved on March 22, 1996. On April 22, 1996, Oyakhire became a naturalized citizen, under the false name Oliver Bennett Oyakhire. He naturalized under a false identity.

Victor Manuel Rocha (Age 75/Colombia): Victor Manuel Rocha is a native of Colombia who was convicted of serving as an unregistered agent for the Republic of Cuba. The U.S. seeks an order revoking Rocha’s naturalization based on his admission in criminal proceedings that he began spying for Cuba in 1973, before he naturalized in 1978. When he applied for naturalization, Rocha represented under penalty of perjury that he had not committed crimes for which he had not been arrested; he was not affiliated with the Communist Party of Cuba; he had not advocated, believed in, or knowingly supported and furthered the interests of Communism; and he believed in the U.S. Constitution and the form of government of the U.S. None of these were true.