Trump's Denaturalization Push: 10 Accused Criminals May Have Status Revoked

The Trump administration is continuing its push to strip American citizenship from a record number of people, announcing 10 more cases against people accused of crimes or immigration fraud. Under President Donald Trump, the federal government has been seeking to drastically increase the number of so-called denaturalizations in recent months. Unlike revoking visas, the law has far stricter requirements for ending U.S. citizenship and yearly cases are generally low, but there has been a concerted effort to file a record number of cases, mainly against those the government believes fraudulently obtained citizenship. In a list released Monday, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Department of Justice (DOJ) said the group was accused or convicted of a range of crimes before they applied for citizenship in the United States. Newsweek sought attorney details for all ten defendants, but of the active cases listed in public court records, attorneys were not listed at the time of publishing.

"We refuse to give a free pass to criminals who cheated their way into American citizenship," Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate, of the Justice Department's Civil Division, said in a press release. "Under this administration, if you defrauded the naturalization process, you will face the full force of the Justice Department. We've only scratched the surface—many more complaints are coming."

The group listed by the DOJ and DHS included six people originally from Mexico, with one each from Cuba, Pakistan, Peru, and Poland. The DOJ said several of the cases involved alleged child sexual abuse, as well as using false documents or statements when seeking citizenship. The administration argues those citizenship grants should never have occurred because key information was concealed or misrepresented during the naturalization process.

Former priest Urbano Vazquez Ortega, a native of Mexico who became a citizen in 2017, was convicted of multiple counts of child sexual abuse involving minors between 2015 and 2017 and was sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2019. Another Mexican national, Franscisco Montano, was convicted of aggravated sexual assault and indecency with a child after prosecutors said the abuse occurred during the five-year period before he naturalized in 1997. Jimmy Aguero, originally from Peru, was convicted on eight counts related to the sexual abuse of his minor stepdaughter and sentenced to a decade in prison, while Martin Garcia Cardiel, a Mexican immigrant who became a citizen in 2011, was later convicted on 19 counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child stemming from conduct prosecutors said occurred in 2007, before his naturalization.

Yoskmaikel Rodriguez Perez, a Cuban national naturalized in 2018, is accused of concealing a Medicare fraud operation that allegedly submitted more than $886,000 in false claims before he obtained citizenship; he later pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care and wire fraud. Murtaza Ali, originally from Pakistan, allegedly used multiple aliases to secure immigration benefits and later citizenship, ultimately pleading guilty in 2014 to making false statements to a federal agency. The DOJ also alleges that Antonio Alcantara-Ruiz, a Mexican national, obtained citizenship after using identity documents purchased from another person, while Ceflo Luviano-Mojica, also from Mexico, falsely denied previous arrests and jail time during the naturalization process.

The remaining cases involve allegations tied to drug trafficking and financial crimes. Omar Cantu-Montalvo, a Mexican immigrant who became a citizen in 2005, later pleaded guilty to participating in a cocaine trafficking conspiracy that prosecutors say began months before he filed for naturalization. Marcin Stanislaw Garbacz, a native of Poland and former Catholic priest who became a citizen in 2014, was later convicted of wire fraud, tax-related offenses, and illicit sexual conduct involving a minor abroad. The Justice Department alleges Garbacz concealed that conduct while seeking citizenship.

In each case, the U.S. government has to argue that the individual either illegally procured naturalization or obtained citizenship through willful misrepresentation or concealment of material facts, often during the period when they were required to demonstrate "good moral character."

Through civil denaturalization complaints filed in federal court, officials are seeking to revoke their citizenship, potentially returning them to noncitizen status and exposing them to further immigration consequences, including deportation.

"When you commit fraud during the naturalization process, you forfeit the right to keep your U.S. citizenship," DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said in Monday's announcement. "These criminal aliens, comprised of drug traffickers, pedophiles, and fraudsters, lost that right and exploited our immigration system—harming real U.S. citizens. DHS is committed to ensuring we denaturalize and remove these fraudsters with every tool at our disposal."

Despite current political rhetoric, denaturalization remains extremely rare. From 1990 to 2017, an average of about 11 cases per year were initiated, according to the Brennan Center for Justice. During the first Trump administration, that number rose to roughly 25 cases annually, still a small fraction of the more than 24 million naturalized U.S. citizens.