On Friday, officials with the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that they are seeking to denaturalize 12 naturalized American citizens accused of crimes like murder, terrorism, firearms trafficking, marriage fraud, identity fraud, and possessing child pornography, among other things.
“If you’re going to come and become a citizen in this country, but you’re going to do it by fraud, you’re going to do it in a way that’s illegal, you should be worried,” Attorney General (AG) Todd Blanche told CBS News this week.
“We are not limiting ourselves to anybody in particular, except to say that unfortunately, and I think you’re going to hear more about this in the coming days and weeks, there are a lot of individuals who are citizens who shouldn’t be,” Blanche said, hinting at the enforcement action announced Friday.
Among those the DOJ is seeking to denaturalize is 48-year-old Ali Yousif Ahmed of Iraq, who entered the United States in 2009 by claiming that he and his family were attacked by Al-Qaeda terrorists.
In 2019, Iraqi officials asked the federal government to extradite Ahmed for the alleged murder of two police officers, accusing him of being a leader in Al-Qaeda. Ahmed was able to secure naturalized citizenship in 2015.
The DOJ is also seeking to denaturalize 75-year-old Oscar Alberto Pelaez of Colombia, a Roman Catholic priest who pleaded guilty in 2002 to sexually abusing a child from 1998 to 2000, as well as 46-year-old Abduvosit Razikov of Uzbekistan, who in 2005 paid an American citizen to enter into a sham marriage with him so that he could secure a green card.
Razikov allegedly paid another American citizen to marry his actual romantic partner from Uzbekistan. A few years later, in 2010, Razikov divorced his sham marriage wife and, in 2012, secured naturalized citizenship.
After having naturalized, Razikov wed again to an Uzbek woman in another sham marriage so that she could secure a green card.
Khalid Ouazzani, a 48-year-old immigrant from Morocco, may be stripped of his naturalized citizenship, awarded to him in 2006, after he provided support to Al-Qaeda alongside two men later convicted of attempting to bomb the New York Stock Exchange.
A year after naturalizing, Ouazzani sent tens of thousands of dollars in fraudulent money to Al-Qaeda and in 2008, he took an oath dedicating his life to the terrorist organization. Ouazzani was convicted in 2010.
The DOJ is taking similar denaturalization steps against 43-year-old Salah Osman Ahmed of Somalia, who secured naturalized citizenship in 2007. After getting citizenship, Ahmed traveled to Somalia to join al-Shabaab, killing Ethiopians as part of his mission with the terrorist group. Ahmed was convicted in 2009.
The other immigrants, and their crimes, whom the DOJ is seeking to denaturalize are:
Baboucarr Mboob (Age 58/Gambia): On November 11, 1994, Baboucarr Mboob, a native of The Gambia, while serving as a military police officer in the Gambian army, participated, along with fifteen other soldiers, in the execution of six officers following the orders from his commanding officer who believed the victims were plotting a counter-coup against then President Yahya Jammeh – all without giving their 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 United States 2002, naturalizing as a U.S. citizen in 2011. But, in testimony before a hearing of The Gambian Truth, Reconciliation, and Reparations Commission (TRRC) held on April 9, 2019, Mr. Mboob admitted to executing his six fellow officers. The Unites States is seeking to revoke his certificate of naturalization because he obtained his U.S. citizenship illegally by concealing material fact and willfully misrepresented his military background.
Kevin Robin Suarez (Age 31/Bolivia): Beginning in May 2016, and continuing for ten months after his January 2017 naturalization, Kevin Robin Suarez engaged in a conspiracy to purchase firearms through straw purchasers for the eventual exportation of 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 Suarez’s father. These firearms were part of a larger network of gun trafficking from South Florida to Bolivia by Bolivian nationals in the United States. Once in Bolivia, the guns 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 violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371 and 18 U.S.C. § 924(a)(1)(A), in February 2020. Suarez illegally procured his naturalization as a United States citizen because his crime precluded 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.
Abdallah Osman Sheikh (Age 28/Kenya): Abdallah Osman Sheikh, a resident of Fairdale, Kentucky, unlawfully procured his naturalization and obtained his naturalization by concealment of a material fact or by willful misrepresentation. Specifically, in July 2019, before he naturalized, but while he was in the Marines, Sheikh possessed indecent digital images of two minor individuals and posted an indecent digital image of one of them to his social media account. Those crimes and his efforts to hide those crimes from the government throughout his naturalization proceedings warrant Sheikh’s denaturalization pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1451(a). In addition, Sheikh naturalized based on his military service, but received an other than honorable discharge (for misconduct) from the U.S. Marines after failing to serve honorably for five years, warranting his denaturalization under 8 U.S.C. § 1440(c).
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. But in his 2012 naturalization application and interview, Ghosh claimed that he had never committed a crime or offense for which he had not 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 very next year under a different identity. That application was granted, and in 2007, Mr. He obtained permanent residence. In 2013, Defendant naturalized under the identity and immigration history of Pin He, without ever disclosing his prior removal order under the Chun Di He. Because Mr. He obtained his citizenship after concealing his prior identity and misrepresenting his eligibility for citizenship, the United States is seeking to revoke his certificate of naturalization.
George Oyakhire (Age 66/Nigeria): Mr. Oyakhire naturalized under a false identity. Mr. Oyakhire, who was born in Nigeria, first entered the United States on October 18, 1986, using a visa issued in his true name, George Ofuan Oyakhire. Approximately two years later, on September 2, 1988, Mr. Oyakhire obtained temporary resident status using a false name, “Oliver Bennett Oyakhire,” and a false date of birth. On December 1, 1990, Mr. Oyakhire adjusted his status to that of a lawful permanent resident using the false Oliver Bennett Oyakhire identity. On September 12, 1995, again using the false Oliver Bennett Oyakhire identity, Mr. Oyakhire filed an application for naturalization, which was approved on March 22, 1996. On April 22, 1996, Mr. Oyakhire became a naturalized citizen, under the false name Oliver Bennett Oyakhire.
Adeyeye Ariyo Akambi (Age 65/Nigeria): Adeyeye Ariyo Akambi, after having been removed from the United States in 2000 under a different identity, changed his identity and obtained permanent residency, and subsequently U.S. citizenship, after concealing his prior removal. Because Mr. Akambi obtained his citizenship after concealing these facts and misrepresented his eligibility for citizenship, the United States is seeking to revoke his certificate of naturalization.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at [email protected].
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