DHS and Department of Justice Announce Move to Revoke U.S. Citizenship from 10 Naturalized Criminals Including Child Molesters, Scammers, and Drug Dealers

WASHINGTON - U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services assisted the Department of Justice (DOJ) with several recent denaturalization actions in U.S. district courts to revoke citizenship from 10 individuals accused of serious crimes, including sexual abuse of a child, health care and wire fraud, immigration fraud, and conspiracy to possess cocaine with intent to distribute. The complaints were filed over the last 30 days.

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.

"When you commit fraud during the naturalization process, you forfeit the right to keep your U.S. citizenship," said DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin. "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."

Summary of Cases:

1. Yoskmaikel Rodriguez Perez (Age 45, Cuba): Rodriguez Perez became a lawful permanent resident in 2004 and a U.S. citizen in 2018. Before citizenship, he operated a fake medical clinic and submitted false claims to Medicare totaling more than $886,000. He hid these crimes during the naturalization process and gave false testimony under oath to a USCIS officer. He later pleaded guilty and was convicted of conspiracy to commit healthcare and wire fraud.

2. Ceflo Luviano-Mojica (Age 60, Mexico): On July 14, the United States filed a denaturalization action against Luviano-Mojica for hiding his prior arrest for carrying a concealed firearm and for grand theft, crimes for which he served 30 days in jail. In 1998, he pleaded guilty and was convicted in the Northern District of Georgia for providing false information in his naturalization application. He admitted to making false statements on his application and during his interview, testifying under oath that he had never been arrested, charged, or imprisoned for breaking or violating any law.

3. Urbano Vazquez Ortega (Age 53, Mexico): On July 10, the United States filed a denaturalization action against Vazquez Ortega, who became a U.S. citizen in 2017. He was convicted of multiple counts of second-degree child sexual abuse while employed as a priest at a Washington, D.C. church. In 2019, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison. The United States filed a five-count complaint seeking to revoke his citizenship, alleging he committed these crimes before, during, and after his naturalization.

4. Murtaza Ali (Age 65, Pakistan): Ali used multiple aliases to file several applications for immigration benefits, ultimately becoming a lawful permanent resident and then a U.S. citizen under the name "Muhammad Iqbal" in 2009. After naturalization, a fingerprint expert determined the fingerprints submitted under the names "Mortaza Ali" and "Muhammad Iqbal" belonged to the same person. The United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas charged Ali with making false statements to a U.S. agency. In 2014, Ali pleaded guilty, admitting that he had filed three applications using three different identities.

5. Jimmy Aguero (Age 51, Peru): Aguero repeatedly sexually abused his minor stepdaughter prior to becoming a U.S. citizen in 2015. He was convicted on eight counts of sexual abuse of a minor and sentenced to 10 years in prison. DOJ alleges Aguero is barred from establishing good moral character due to his convictions.

6. Antonio Alcantara-Ruiz (Age 53, Mexico): On June 23, the United States filed a denaturalization action against Alcantara-Ruiz, also known as Emiliano Quintana-Gonzalez and Antonio Quinn Alcantara, for misrepresenting his identity to secure citizenship. Before naturalization, he purchased identity documents from another Mexican citizen and used them to obtain a replacement permanent resident card with his own photograph and fingerprint. He used these false documents to support his naturalization application.

7. Omar Cantu-Montalvo (Age 44, Mexico): Cantu-Montalvo was admitted to the United States in 1996 and later became a lawful permanent resident. He applied for citizenship in July 2005, stating he had never committed a crime for which he had been arrested. He naturalized in December 2005. In April 2016, he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess more than five kilograms of cocaine with intent to distribute-a conspiracy he joined in April 2005, just months before applying for citizenship. He was sentenced to 100 months in prison and five years of supervised release.

8. Franscisco Montano (Age 59, Mexico): Montano was admitted to the United States in 1987. When he applied for citizenship in 1997, he failed to disclose that he had sexually abused a child during the required five-year good moral character period before naturalization. He was later convicted in a Texas state court of two counts of aggravated sexual assault and four counts of indecency with a child, crimes that occurred during that five-year period.

9. Marcin Stanislaw Garbacz (Age 47, Poland): Garbacz, a former Roman Catholic priest, became a lawful permanent resident in 2008 and a U.S. citizen in 2014. Before citizenship, he stole about $259,696 in cash collections from three parishes in South Dakota and secretly recorded a 17-year-old showering during a church trip to Poland. He hid these crimes during the naturalization process. He was convicted of wire fraud, filing a false tax return, and engaging in illicit sexual conduct with a minor in a foreign country.

10. Martin Garcia Cardiel (Age 60, Mexico): On July 6, the United States filed a complaint in Utah to revoke Garcia Cardiel's citizenship. He was admitted to the United States in December 2000 and later became a lawful permanent resident. In his 2011 citizenship application, he stated that he had never committed a crime for which he had been arrested and had never given false information to any U.S. government official. He naturalized in October 2011. In 2022, a Utah jury convicted him of 19 counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child for acts committed in 2007. The victims were his neighbors, two sisters who were 7 and 8 years old when the abuse began. He was sentenced to consecutive prison terms of 15 years to life.

The Department of Justice has filed complaints seeking to revoke citizenship for these individuals. The crimes they committed show they lacked 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.

These complaints were filed in the Southern District of Florida, Northern District of Georgia, Southern District of Iowa, District of Maryland, Western District of Pennsylvania, Northern District of Texas, Southern District of Texas, Southern District of Texas, District of Utah, and Western District of Washington. 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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