Justice Department Sues to Revoke Naturalization of California Sex Offender

On Jan. 30, the Department of Justice filed a civil complaint to revoke the citizenship of Erwin Galindo, who committed several unlawful sexual acts with minors prior to naturalizing and, later, withheld his illegal acts throughout his naturalization process.

Galindo sexually abused an 11-year-old child, and he sexually abused and raped a 14-year-old child. After naturalizing, Galindo was convicted in California of two counts of lewd or lascivious acts upon a child and was sentenced to eight years and eight months in prison. His acts and his concealment of these material facts warrant revocation of Galindo's 2015 naturalization under 8 U.S.C. § 1451.

"This Department of Justice will continue to strip citizenship from those who commit heinous crimes and conceal them during the naturalization process," said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. "American citizenship is a great and sacred privilege that must be earned honestly."

"A monster who commits horrific acts of sexual abuse against children should not ever have become a U.S. citizen," said Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department's Civil Division. "This Administration will not hesitate to take his citizenship back."

This case is being civilly prosecuted by the Justice Department's Office of Immigration Litigation, Affirmative Litigation Unit, with assistance from ICE's Homeland Security Investigations.