Justice Department Targets 12 in Denaturalization for Material Support Under Immigration Law

(UNITED STATES) — The Department of Justice filed denaturalization actions on May 8, 2026, in various U.S. district courts against 12 naturalized U.S. citizens accused of concealing material facts or willfully misrepresenting information during their naturalization process under sections 1451(a) and 1451(e) of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

Justice Department officials said the cases involve allegations tied to material support for terrorism, war crimes, espionage, sexual abuse of minors, fraud, and immigration violations. The agency described the filings as part of a broader push to revoke citizenship that it says was obtained unlawfully.

“Individuals implicated in committing fraud, heinous crimes such as sexual abuse, or expressing support for terrorism should never have been naturalized as United States citizens,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said. Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the DOJ Civil Division said, “This Department of Justice continues to file denaturalization actions at record speeds to restore integrity in our naturalization process.”

Among the people named by the department was Ali Yousif Ahmed Al-Nouri of Iraq, whom prosecutors accused of murdering two Iraqi police officers as an al-Qaeda leader and then naturalizing after lying under oath about his criminal and family history. Oscar Alberto Pelaez of Colombia, a Roman Catholic priest, was convicted in the United States of 13 counts of sexual assault against a child, including sodomy, and the government said he lied about those crimes during naturalization.

Khalid Ouazzani of Morocco was naturalized in 2006 and later pleaded guilty in 2010 to bank fraud, money laundering, and providing material support to al-Qaeda. Prosecutors said he sent tens of thousands of dollars starting in 2003, took an oath of allegiance in 2008, and gave false testimony on his attachment to the U.S. Constitution.

Salah Osman Ahmed of Somalia was naturalized in 2007 and pleaded guilty in 2009 to providing material support to terrorists and membership in al-Shabaab, which killed Ethiopians. Baboucarr Mboob of Gambia, a former military police officer, was accused of killing six fellow officers in 1994.

Abdallah Osman Sheikh of Kenya, a former U.S. Marine, was accused of possessing and posting indecent images of minors on social media. Debashis Ghosh of India, described as a businessman, was accused of defrauding investors of millions and falsely stating in his 2012 naturalization application that he had committed no unarrested crimes despite conduct involving moral turpitude and unlawful acts reflecting poorly on moral character.

Pin He of China was accused of using a false identity to obtain citizenship after a removal order. George Oyakhire of Nigeria also was accused of using a false identity to naturalize.

Victor Manuel Rocha of Colombia was listed as having been convicted of spying for Cuba. Abduvosit Razikov of Uzbekistan allegedly entered a sham marriage to gain citizenship, and the department also referenced an additional individual from Bolivia, Iran, or another listed nationality in public summaries.

Denaturalization is a civil or criminal process that strips citizenship after naturalization, and the government faces a demanding legal standard when it seeks that result in court. Under INA § 1451(a), the government must prove by clear and convincing evidence that citizenship was illegally procured or obtained by concealment of a material fact or by willful misrepresentation.

A federal judge, not an agency officer, must issue the revocation order. USCIS refers cases to the Justice Department after finding sufficient evidence, and once citizenship is revoked, the person returns to the immigration status held before naturalization and can face removal if that status is unlawful under 8 CFR § 340.1.

Criminal denaturalization under INA § 1451(e) applies when revocation is tied to convictions. Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor, said prosecutors must meet a “high bar” proving material fraud.

The latest filings follow a DOJ Civil Division memo issued last summer that prioritized denaturalization for immigration fraud. They also align with expanded federal review efforts, including more than 20,000 Homeland Defenders applications to examine naturalization files at USCIS.

Cases are now pending in district courts across multiple jurisdictions. No reported circuit splits have emerged on the core standards in the Immigration and Nationality Act that govern these cases, though the outcome in each lawsuit will turn on the facts and evidence presented to the court.

The Justice Department’s allegations range from fraud in naturalization paperwork to conduct far removed from the application itself, including claims of espionage, war crimes, sexual abuse of minors, and material support for terrorism. In several of the cases, prosecutors contend the later criminal conduct or admissions exposed lies or omissions made years earlier during the citizenship process.

Those filings also show how the government frames “material” facts in denaturalization litigation. The standard does not require a minor discrepancy; prosecutors must convince a court that the concealed or false information mattered to whether the person was legally eligible for citizenship in the first place.

That matters in cases like Ouazzani’s and Ahmed’s, where the allegations involve material support for terrorism and false testimony tied to allegiance and eligibility. It also shapes cases centered on identity, including the filings against He and Oyakhire, where prosecutors say the citizenship grants rested on false names or false personal histories.

Readers who want to track any of the cases will need to follow the dockets in the relevant U.S. district courts through PACER, the federal court records system. The department has not outlined any separate effective dates for the filings, and the only eligibility limits described are the standard bars already written into federal immigration law.

The actions filed on May 8, 2026 place the denaturalization process back at the center of a long-running legal tool that the government uses sparingly compared with routine immigration enforcement, but with consequences that cut to the core of citizenship itself. Whether the Justice Department can revoke that status in these 12 cases will now depend on whether federal judges find clear and convincing evidence that naturalization was obtained through fraud, concealment, or another violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act.