Trump administration Justice Department moves to strip 12 naturalized citizens of U.S. citizenship

What the Justice Department announced

On Friday, May 8, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice said it had filed civil denaturalization complaints in federal district courts against 12 naturalized U.S. citizens. The department’s public narrative groups the docket as a single enforcement wave tied to people who allegedly concealed histories of terrorism support, war crimes, espionage, sexual abuse of a minor, firearms and immigration fraud, and identity fraud while obtaining citizenship.

The filings are civil actions to cancel certificates of naturalization—not simultaneous criminal indictments of all twelve—though several names on the list already have federal convictions that DOJ says underpin the misrepresentation claims. DOJ explicitly notes that the complaints are allegations and that no court has determined liability yet.

The legal basis: when citizenship can be revoked

Federal law allows the government to seek denaturalization when naturalization was “illegally procured” or obtained through concealment of a material fact or willful misrepresentation. That framework sits in the Immigration and Nationality Act and related provisions cited in DOJ practice—most commonly discussed alongside 8 U.S.C. § 1451 in public explainers about revocation of naturalization.

Denaturalization is distinct from deporting someone who never naturalized; if a court agrees with the government, a person may revert to non-citizen status and face removal proceedings and other consequences depending on the factual record. Because these cases turn on documentary and testimonial history—visa forms, naturalization interviews, and later-adjudicated crimes—they are often fact-intensive and can take months or years to resolve on appeal.

Who the 12 people are, by DOJ’s public list

The department named the following individuals in its May 8, 2026 release, with ages and countries of birth as stated there:

• Ali Yousif Ahmed (48, Iraq) — filed in Arizona; DOJ ties him to extradition interest from Iraq over 2006 killings of police officers and alleges false statements on immigration and naturalization papers.

• Oscar Alberto Pelaez (75, Colombia) — former Catholic priest; DOJ says he pleaded guilty in 2002 to multiple child sexual assault counts in California and lied in naturalization proceedings.

• Khalid Ouazzani (48, Morocco) — material support to Al-Qaida guilty plea in 2010; DOJ alleges false attachment to the Constitution at naturalization.

• Salah Osman Ahmed (43, Somalia) — material support guilty plea 2009; DOJ says he joined al-Shabaab soon after naturalizing.

• Baboucarr Mboob (58, The Gambia) — DOJ alleges participation in extrajudicial executions of fellow soldiers in 1994 and concealment through naturalization in 2011, including admissions in a truth commission setting.

• Kevin Robin Suarez (31, Bolivia) — straw-purchase firearms conspiracy tied to export networks; DOJ says crimes overlapped naturalization and show lack of good moral character.

• Abduvosit Razikov (46, Uzbekistan) — sham marriages and immigration fraud; DOJ challenges whether he ever lawfully held green-card status prerequisite to naturalization.

• Abdallah Osman Sheikh (28, Kenya) — child sexual exploitation imagery alleged before naturalization while in the Marines; DOJ also cites other-than-honorable discharge relative to military naturalization rules.

• Debashis Ghosh (62, India) — investor fraud scheme DOJ says continued across naturalization; alleged false denials of crimes on forms.

• Pin He (53, China) — alleged second identity after a 1992 removal order under another name.

• George Oyakhire (66, Nigeria) — naturalized under false name and birth date according to DOJ’s chronology from 1988 through 1996.

• Victor Manuel Rocha (75, Colombia) — convicted of acting as an unregistered agent of Cuba; DOJ says admissions show pre-naturalization espionage inconsistent with his naturalization oaths in 1978.

How the Trump administration is framing the sweep

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche was quoted saying people implicated in fraud, “heinous crimes such as sexual abuse,” or terrorism support should never have been naturalized, and that the administration would pursue those who “intentionally concealed” criminal histories or misrepresented themselves. Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate described the filings as part of a high-volume denaturalization effort to “restore integrity” in naturalization.

That rhetoric fits a broader second-term emphasis on immigration enforcement and “integrity” messaging, but the legal tests remain judicial: prosecutors must prove the statutory grounds with evidence admissible in federal court, and defendants can assert procedural and factual defenses.

Why a civil case can still carry life-altering stakes

Losing naturalization can mean losing the right to vote, certain federal employment, and deportability if the person no longer has a valid immigration status. For people with serious criminal convictions, removal may coincide with ongoing supervision or separate criminal consequences already imposed.

Civil denaturalization also raises due-process and retroactivity debates in legal scholarship—particularly when convictions are old and naturalization long ago—but courts have long treated naturalization as not irrevocable if procured by fraud.

Bottom line

The Trump administration’s DOJ moved on May 8, 2026 to denaturalize twelve people from nine countries across multiple federal districts, alleging terror ties, war crimes, espionage, child sexual abuse, guns and fraud, and identity fraud concealed during the citizenship process. The list mixes already-convicted figures with civil fraud theories; every claim remains accusatory until judges rule.

The case cluster is a practical reminder that U.S. citizenship through naturalization depends on truthful disclosure at each prior step—and that when prosecutors believe the record was fatally false, they can still ask courts to void the grant, even decades later in some matters.