Federal Judge Revokes Citizenship of Immigration and Identity Fraudster

The Department of Justice has secured the denaturalization of Gurdev Singh Sohal, also known as Dev Singh, also known as Boota Singh Sundu, who naturalized in 2005 despite having been ordered deported in 1994.

After receiving a deportation and exclusion order under the name Dev Singh, Sohal failed to leave the country, and, instead, acquired a new identity with a different and fictitious name, date of birth, and date of entry into the United States. Sohal naturalized under the new and assumed identity. Sohal withheld his prior immigration history under the Dev Singh identity in any of his immigration applications or proceedings under the new identity.

"This case shows this Administration's strength and commitment to ensuring the sanctity of U.S. citizenship," said Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department's Civil Division. "The cooperation between the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security reflects a strong partnership to protect the nation against immigration and identity fraud."

This case was investigated as part of the Historic Fingerprint Enrollment project, an ongoing national initiative between the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security's United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. Expert analysis in February 2020 confirmed that the fingerprints submitted under both identities came from the same individual. The analysis was only made possible after DHS digitized the paper fingerprint submission documents from older immigration files.

On April 13, the court found that Sohal illegally procured his U.S. citizenship because the unlawful acts he committed in hiding his prior identity rendered him unable to show that he had the requisite good moral character to naturalize.

This case was prosecuted by the Justice Department's Office of Immigration Litigation, Affirmative Litigation Unit, with assistance from USCIS and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Washington.