The federal government is moving to denaturalize more than a dozen “criminal aliens” for allegedly lying about their past crimes, including child sexual abuse, fraud, and drug dealing, during the naturalization process.
Officials with the Justice Department told the Washington Examiner that the denaturalization actions, announced on Monday, are “unprecedented.”
The suspects include convicts originally from Somalia, Haiti, Colombia, Mexico, Cuba, and Jamaica who are accused of withholding information from immigration authorities that would have made them ineligible to receive citizenship.
Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, a naturalized citizen’s U.S. citizenship may be revoked and the certificate of naturalization canceled if their naturalization was unlawfully procured or fraudulently obtained by the concealment of a material fact or through willful misrepresentation.
“When criminal aliens exploit the naturalization process by breaking the law, there are consequences,” acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement. “Criminal aliens are lying about their past crimes, including drug dealers, sexual predators, and fraudsters. Gaining U.S. citizenship is a privilege and under the steadfast leadership of President Trump, this Department of Justice maintains a zero-tolerance policy for the abuse of this process.”
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“American citizenship is a privilege, and it must be earned honestly. If you come here, break our laws, and lie in your immigration proceedings, you forfeit that privilege,” added Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin. “DHS will not stand idly by while Americans are harmed by criminals including sex offenders, perpetrators of fraud, and drug traffickers who have exploited our generosity and gamed our immigration system. We will continue to use every lawful avenue to denaturalize and remove aliens.”