Justice Department Files Record 25 Denaturalization Cases Against Naturalized Criminals Including Attempted Murderers, Spousal Abusers, and Child Sex Offenders

25 complaints filed since July marks largest denaturalization effort yet

WASHINGTON - U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services partnered with the Department of Justice in its filing of denaturalization actions against 25 individuals accused of serious offenses, including attempted first-degree murder and assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature, and aggravated sexual assault of a child.

Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, a naturalized U.S. citizen's citizenship may be revoked, and certificate of naturalization canceled, if the naturalization was illegally obtained or obtained by hiding important facts or by lying. Since Jan. 20, 2025, the Justice Department has filed 123 civil denaturalization complaints, the most in recorded history. The charges below were filed in the past few weeks.

Summary of Cases:

1. Zia Murad Bhatti (Age 59, Pakistan): The Department of Justice filed a case in the Eastern District of Arkansas to denaturalize Zia Murad Bhatti, also known as Raza Moorad, for committing immigration fraud during his naturalization proceedings. Bhatti illegally entered the United States in 1992 using the name Raza Moorad and was ordered removed but did not leave the United States as required. He later married a U.S. citizen and obtained lawful permanent resident status through that marriage, using the name Zia Murad Bhatti. During the naturalization process, he concealed his prior use of another identity and the fact that he had been ordered removed.
2. Tatiana Power (Age 46, Moldova): The Department of Justice filed a case in the Southern District of Florida to denaturalize Tatiana Power for committing crimes involving the sexual abuse of children before she became a U.S. citizen. Power entered the United States in 2005 and naturalized in 2010. In 2021, she was charged with multiple offenses for her role in a business that sold images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of children through numerous websites. During criminal proceedings, Power admitted that she became involved in the illegal enterprise before she naturalized. In 2022, she was convicted of conspiracy to commit money laundering for concealing proceeds from the unlawful activity.
3. Narinder Singh (Age 65, India): The Department of Justice filed a case in the District of Delaware to denaturalize Narinder Singh for using a fraudulent identity to gain admission to the United States. Singh used two identities to gain admission to the U.S. beginning in 1996 and naturalized in 2008.
4. Emigdio Sanchez (Age 62, Mexico): The Department of Justice filed a case in the District of South Carolina to denaturalize Emigdio Sanchez, who concealed criminal conduct from immigration authorities during the naturalization process. In August 1998, Sanchez severely beat his wife, resulting in her hospitalization. He pleaded guilty to assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature. During his naturalization interview in September 1998, he lied that he had not been arrested or engaged in any criminal conduct since he submitted his naturalization application. Sanchez's violent assault on his wife rendered him ineligible to naturalize.
5. Louisa Fernandez Ordonez (Age 54, Colombia): The Department of Justice filed an action in the Northern District of Georgia to denaturalize Luisa Fernanda Ordonez for failing to disclose during her naturalization proceedings that she obtained lawful permanent resident status through marriage fraud and that she was married to two men simultaneously. In 2003, while still married to her first husband, Ordonez married another man. Ordonez did not disclose during the naturalization process that her marriage was entered into solely to obtain an immigration benefit, or that she had subsequently married another person without first divorcing her first husband.
6. Jonathan Omorogieva Obasohan (Age 56, Nigeria): The Department of Justice filed a case in the District of Massachusetts to denaturalize Jonathan Omorogieva Obasohan for obtaining his citizenship under a fake identify, after he was already subject to an order of deportation under his true identify. Before Obasohan became a lawful permanent resident and later naturalized under the name Jonathan Omorogieva Obasohan, he was previously ordered deported from the United States under the name Tinosa Joe Aigbedion. Obasohan failed to disclose during naturalization proceedings that he previously used another name or that he had a current order of deportation.
7. Enos Fong Korti (Age 51, Liberia): The Department of Justice filed a case in the District of Minnesota to denaturalize Enos Fong Korti for concealing his marital status during the immigration process and making false statements during his naturalization proceedings. Korti immigrated to the United States claiming to be the unmarried child of a U.S. citizen. However, he was actually married and ineligible to immigrate under that status. To conceal his ineligibility, he lied about his marital status to immigration officials during the visa process. During the naturalization process, Korti falsely claimed that he had never lied to U.S. officials.
8. Yetunde Folake Olaniyi (Age 56, Nigeria): The Department of Justice filed a case in the District of Maryland to denaturalize Yetunde Folake Olaniyi, also known as Folake Rosemary Thomas. After Olaniyi was ordered removed from the United States, she failed to report for her scheduled removal flight, assumed the identity of Folake Rosemary Thomas, and entered into a sham marriage with a U.S. citizen while still married to a Nigerian citizen. Through the sham marriage and by concealing her true identity, Olaniyi obtained lawful permanent resident status and later naturalized under Folake Rosemary Thomas. In 2014, Olaniyi, under the name Thomas, was convicted of passport fraud after fingerprint checks revealed her true identity.
9. Mohd Wasif (Age 56 or 58, Pakistan): The Department of Justice filed a case in the Eastern District of Texas to revoke naturalizations obtained by Mohd Wasif, also known as Mohammad Khanwasif, under multiple identities. As Mohd Wasif, he obtained lawful permanent resident status by lying about his eligibility. He also applied for lawful permanent resident status under the separate identity of Mohammad Khanwasif. During his naturalization proceedings as Mohd Wasif, he concealed that he had provided false information to immigration officials to obtain permanent resident status and failed to disclose his use of the identity Mohammad Khanwasif. During his naturalization proceedings as Mohammad Khanwasif, he similarly concealed his prior fraud and use of other identities.
10. Esther Quayle (Age 50, Ghana): The Department of Justice filed a case in the Middle District of Tennessee to denaturalize Esther Quayle. Quayle acquired lawful permanent resident status through her spouse, who had stolen the identity of a United States citizen. She later naturalized. As a result of her husband's identity theft and Quayle's nondisclosure of her husband's true identity and citizenship, she was ineligible for citizenship because she did not lawfully obtain lawful permanent resident status.
11. Dwyane Robinson (Age 44, Jamaica): The Department of Justice filed a case in the Eastern District of North Carolina against Dwyane Robinson, who was convicted of attempted first-degree murder and assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury. Robinson obtained U.S. citizenship based on his military service but was discharged from the U.S. Army on Dec. 31, 2013, while awaiting trial. Because he was discharged under other than honorable conditions before completing five years of honorable military service, he is subject to denaturalization.
12. Yi Lee (Age 46, Taiwan): The Department of Justice filed a case in the District of New Mexico to denaturalize Yi Lee because he participated in a marriage fraud scheme before naturalizing. From January 2016 through approximately May 2017, Lee conspired to exploit U.S. immigration laws by arranging sham marriages between U.S. citizens and alien beneficiaries. Lee coordinated payments to U.S. citizen participants and coached participants through the application process, including preparing them for immigration interviews. In 2017, Lee pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit marriage fraud.
13. Eddie Jones Appah (Age 66 or 67, Ghana): The Department of Justice filed a case in the District of New Jersey to denaturalize Eddie Jones Appah for failing to disclose in his naturalization proceedings that he had already entered and been deported under another identity.
14. Jose Luis Martinez-Zavala (Age 80, Mexico): The Department of Justice filed a case in the Western District of Texas to denaturalize Jose Luis Martinez-Zavala for failing to disclose during his naturalization proceedings that he had committed aggravated sexual assault of a child before becoming a U.S. citizen. Martinez-Zavala naturalized in 2014 after concealing that, in 2010, he had committed this crime, which is a first-degree felony. In 2020, he pleaded guilty to and was convicted of that offense.
15. Vivian Chike Obichere (Age 72, Nigeria): The Department of Justice filed a denaturalization action in the Northern District of California to denaturalize Vivian Chike Obichere. Obichere naturalized in 2013. During her naturalization proceedings, she misrepresented that she had never committed crimes for which she had not been arrested, that she had used only one alias while in the United States, had not traveled outside the United States during the relevant period, and had never provided misleading information to a U.S. official. Obichere later pleaded guilty to false application and use of a passport and admitted that those statements were false. She admitted that during her naturalization process she concealed that she had previously applied for and used a passport bearing the name and identifying information of another person, a U.S. citizen.
16. Jose Francisco Cruz (Age 72, Honduras): The Department of Justice filed a denaturalization action in the Southern District of Florida to denaturalize Jose Francisco Cruz. Between Dec. 28, 1995, and June 6, 1998, Cruz sexually abused his minor stepdaughter while he was in a position of familial or custodial authority over her. He naturalized on Feb. 20, 1996. On or about Feb. 22, 1999, Cruz pled guilty to three counts of sexual activity with a child and was sentenced to 16 years in prison. Cruz was also required to register as a sex offender.
17. Francois Nguessi Dame (Age 65, Cameroon): The Department of Justice filed a suit in the District of Maryland to denaturalize Francois Nguessi Dame. From December 2008 to March 2015, Dame sexually abused his minor stepdaughter from the time she was 10 until she was 16. Dame naturalized in August 2014 and was later convicted in May 2017 of multiple counts of sexual abuse of a minor. He never disclosed his criminal conduct during the naturalization process.
18. Haitham A. Mustafa (Age 58, Jordan): The Department of Justice filed a denaturalization action in the Southern District of Florida to denaturalize Haitham A. Mustafa, alleging that he failed to disclose during his naturalization proceedings that he had engaged in credit card fraud using false names. Beginning in November 1999 and continuing beyond his May 2001 naturalization, Mustafa engaged in credit card fraud using fraudulently obtained credit cards in at least one false name. This conduct also coincided with a bank fraud scheme that occurred after his naturalization. In May 2006, following his guilty plea, Mustafa was convicted of one count of credit card fraud and one count of bank fraud. He was sentenced to 25 months in prison, to be served concurrently, and ordered to pay $146,646.43 to the victims of his fraud scheme.
19. Jairo Javier Pedron Tellez (Age 29, Cuba): The Department of Justice filed a denaturalization action in the Southern District of Florida to denaturalize Jairo Javier Pedron Tellez for failing to disclose during his naturalization proceedings that he conspired to commit bank fraud and engaged in aggravated identity theft before naturalizing. From April 2015 through September 2017, Pedron conspired with others to defraud financial institutions by unlawfully obtaining envelopes and parcels from U.S. Postal Service collection boxes with the intent to obtain, alter, and cash or deposit checks contained in those items. Pedron and his co-conspirators illegally obtained nearly $175,000 through the scheme.
20. Carlos Ernesto Giron (Age 65, El Salvador): The Department of Justice filed a civil denaturalization complaint in the District of Maryland against Carloe Ernesto Giron. Giron lied about his criminal conduct in connection with his application to become a naturalized United States citizen. In 2019, Giron pled guilty to, and was convicted of, sexual abuse of a minor for criminal acts he committed against two minors between 2005 and 2010.
21. Juan Camilo Montoya (Age 34, Colombia): The Department of Justice filed a case in the District of Maryland to denaturalize Juan Camilo Montoya because he was dishonorably discharged from the Marine Corps before completing the required period of honorable service following naturalization and because he lied in order to naturalize. Montoya naturalized based on military service, which required a five-year period of honorable conduct. Before that period elapsed, Montoya pleaded guilty at court-martial to possession and distribution of child pornography, conduct that rendered his service not honorable for naturalization purposes. Further, Montoya swore under oath during the naturalization process that he had never been arrested, detained, or cited by law enforcement, despite having previously been cited by Maryland police for a drug-related offense.
22. Cantave Previlon (Age 63, Haiti): The Department of Justice filed a case in the Southern District of Florida to revoke the naturalization of Cantave Previlon. Beginning in July 2007, Previlon sexually abused his minor biological child and concealed that conduct during his naturalization proceedings. After naturalizing, Previlon provided a sworn statement admitting to the offense and was convicted of sexual battery of a victim over 12 but under 18 years old while in a position of familial or custodial authority, and sexual battery of a victim over 12 but under 18 years old without consent.
23. Syed Tanweer Ahmad (Age 82, Sweden): The Department of Justice filed a case in the Northern District of California to denaturalize Syed Tanweer Ahmad, also known as Timothy Syed Andersson and Tanweer Ahmad Syed. Ahmad failed to disclose during his naturalization proceedings that he had committed grand theft against multiple victims and falsely represented for years, to the public and to his victims, that he was a medical practitioner. In 2011, Ahmad pleaded guilty to these offenses and was convicted of 64 criminal violations, including 30 counts of practicing medicine without a license, 30 counts of grand theft, one count of perjury, and three counts of forgery. The court sentenced Ahmad to six years in state prison.
24. Miguel Eduardo Romero (Age 67, El Salvador): The Department of Justice filed a case in the District of Maryland to denaturalize Miguel Eduardo Romero. Before he became a U.S. citizen, Romero repeatedly sexually abused his minor granddaughter while she was in his care. He concealed and lied about this conduct during his naturalization proceedings.
25. Manuel Antonio La Rosa-Lopez (Age 68, Peru): The Department of Justice filed a case to denaturalize Manuel Antonio La Rosa-Lopez. La Rosa-Lopez, from the Houston area, was naturalized based on his misrepresentation that he had never committed a crime for which he had not been arrested. Before applying for naturalization, La Rosa-Lopez had committed acts constituting indecency with a child. La Rosa-Lopez was charged and pleaded guilty after he became a U.S. citizen, and he is currently serving a 10-year prison sentence.

The Department of Justice has filed complaints seeking to revoke citizenship for these individuals. The crimes they committed show they lack the good moral character required to become a U.S. citizen, and they lied to USCIS officers to hide these crimes during their naturalization interviews. The claims made in the complaints are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.

To report suspected immigration benefit fraud or abuse to USCIS, please use the USCIS Tip Form.

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