The DOJ has filed civil denaturalization actions against 17 naturalized Americans as part of an expanded citizenship revocation policy. – Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
The Justice Department says the civil cases target people accused of concealing crimes, fraud or other material facts during the naturalization process.
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department has filed civil actions seeking to revoke the citizenship of 17 naturalized Americans, escalating the Trump administration’s use of denaturalization as part of its broader immigration enforcement agenda.
The cases, filed in federal district courts across the country, accuse the defendants of serious offenses or of concealing material facts during the naturalization process. The allegations include sexual abuse of minors, wire and bank fraud, health care fraud, unlawful wholesale drug distribution, use of false identities and immigration-related misrepresentations.
The actions were brought under the Immigration and Nationality Act, which allows the government to seek revocation of naturalization if citizenship was illegally obtained or procured through concealment of a material fact or willful misrepresentation.
None of the civil complaints has yet resulted in a judicial determination of liability, the Justice Department said.
The announcement has drawn renewed attention to denaturalization, a consequential but limited legal process that allows the federal government to challenge citizenship granted through naturalization. It does not apply to people who became U.S. citizens by birth. It applies only to naturalized citizens, and the government must prove its case in federal court.
Federal officials said the latest cases involve naturalized citizens originally from several countries, including Cuba, Haiti, Colombia, Mexico, Jamaica, India, Somalia, China, Congo, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Philippines.
Among the cases cited by the Justice Department is that of Jheromell Obejera Arcilla, a native of the Philippines. The government filed a civil denaturalization complaint in federal court in Maryland alleging that Arcilla sexually abused a minor before and during the period in which he naturalized and made false statements in connection with his citizenship application.
The department said Arcilla was indicted in 2020 on Maryland sexual offense charges and pleaded guilty in 2021 to one count of sex abuse of a minor. The government is seeking to revoke his citizenship on claims that he lacked the good moral character required for naturalization and knowingly misled immigration authorities.
Other complaints described by the department involve people accused of concealing fraud schemes, false identities, undisclosed criminal conduct or immigration misrepresentations. The Justice Department also cited cases involving a Cuban-born woman who admitted in criminal proceedings that she and co-conspirators fraudulently billed tens of millions of dollars through physical therapy clinics, and an India-born staffing company executive accused of filing fraudulent H-1B visa petitions and making false statements during naturalization.
The Justice Department’s Civil Division has made denaturalization a stated enforcement priority. A department memorandum directed federal lawyers to prioritize cases involving national security concerns, war crimes, human rights violations, gang or cartel activity, undisclosed felonies, sex offenses, violent crimes, financial fraud, immigration fraud and other significant matters.
Because denaturalization can result in the loss of citizenship, the cases are subject to federal court review and require the government to establish the legal grounds for revocation. Federal law has long permitted the government to seek denaturalization when naturalization was obtained through fraud, concealment or legal ineligibility.
If a court grants denaturalization, the person loses U.S. citizenship and the legal benefits attached to it, including a U.S. passport and protection from removal as a citizen. The person may revert to a prior immigration status and may become subject to deportation proceedings, depending on the facts of the case.
The Justice Department said the 17 cases were brought by its Office of Immigration Litigation with assistance from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. attorney’s offices in several jurisdictions.
The cases underscore a narrow but consequential legal reality for naturalized immigrants. U.S. citizenship obtained through naturalization can be challenged in court if the government alleges and proves that it was obtained through fraud, concealment or statutory ineligibility.
