- Judge Louise W. Flanagan revoked Clemens’s citizenship on September 17, 2026, after his guilty plea for naturalization fraud.
- Clemens admitted concealing child-sex offenses in his naturalization application and interview.
- The judge sentenced him to time served and ordered him to leave the United States at his own expense.
U.S. District Judge Louise W. Flanagan revoked a Durham County man's naturalized citizenship on September 17, 2026, after he admitted concealing child-sex offenses during the naturalization process. She sentenced him to time served and ordered him to leave the United States at his own expense. The court issued both orders that day.
Cyril Domaquik Clemens, a 72-year-old Liberian-born resident, became a naturalized U.S. citizen in February 2021. His citizenship ended after a federal guilty plea tied to false statements on his application and in an interview with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
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In June 2026, he pleaded guilty to naturalization fraud. Prosecutors said he made false statements under penalty of perjury, answering “no” when asked whether he had ever forced or attempted to force someone into sexual contact. He also denied committing a crime for which he had not been arrested.
Those answers concealed a state criminal case. The state conviction came first.
The court revoked citizenship through a denaturalization case
The citizenship ruling is denaturalization, a court action distinct from an ordinary deportation proceeding. Under INA § 340(a), 8 U.S.C. § 1451(a), a federal district court may revoke naturalization if citizenship was illegally procured or obtained through concealment of a material fact or willful misrepresentation.
A criminal conviction can support revocation, but the court must impose the citizenship consequence in a federal proceeding. Here, after revoking his citizenship, the judge also ordered him to leave the country. He must pay the cost himself.
The state case involved an 11-year-old girl and a separate sentence
On April 3, 2023, Clemens pleaded guilty in Durham County Superior Court to three counts of indecent liberties with a child. Prosecutors said he sexually abused a girl for 11 years, beginning when she was four.
The state court imposed a prison sentence of one year and four months to two years and five months. It also ordered him to register as a sex offender. The federal judge later imposed time served in the citizenship case.
Three federal agencies investigated the concealed offenses
ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations, Homeland Security Investigations and USCIS investigated the case under Operation False Haven. The Department of Justice initiative targets people accused of obtaining immigration benefits by hiding serious crimes.
The case differs from a separate DOJ announcement involving 40 denaturalization actions filed in 2026. Those actions remained allegations awaiting judicial resolution. The Durham County case had reached a court ruling after the guilty plea and sentencing.
This article provides general information and is not legal advice. Consult a qualified immigration attorney about your specific case.
