President Donald J. Trump’s Department of Justice (DOJ) moved to strip citizenship from 17 individuals, including Caribbean nationals, accused of crimes ranging from sex abuse of a minor to drug distribution.
Among those Trump plans to strip of US citizenship are nationals of Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago.
The others are nationals of Mexico, Colombia, Yugoslavia, India, Somalia, China, Congo and the Philippines.
The DOJ said that, under the Immigration and Nationality Act, a naturalized US citizen’s citizenship may be revoked, and certificate of naturalization canceled, if the naturalization was illegally procured or procured by concealment of a material fact or by willful misrepresentation.
“When criminal aliens exploit the naturalization process by breaking the law, there are consequences. Criminal aliens are lying about their past crimes, including drug dealers, sexual predators, and fraudsters,” said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. “Gaining US citizenship is a privilege and, under the steadfast leadership of President Trump, this Department of Justice maintains a zero-tolerance policy for the abuse of this process.
“We continue to work around the clock with our interagency partners to make sure US citizenship is granted to those who truly deserve it,” he added.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin said: “American citizenship is a privilege, and it must be earned honestly.
“If you come here break our laws, and lie in your immigration proceedings, you forfeit that privilege,” he added. “DHS will not stand idly by while Americans are harmed by criminals including sex offenders, perpetrators of fraud, and drug traffickers who have exploited our generosity and gamed our immigration system. We will continue to use every lawful avenue to denaturalize and remove aliens.”
The Caribbean nationals Trump plans to strip of US Citizenship, according to the DOJ, are: Leidys Delmas Garcia, 54, a native of Cuba who was convicted of conspiracy to commit health care fraud; Jean Claude Alfred, 68, a native of Haiti who sexually abused his minor daughter; Talman Harris, 49, a native of Jamaica who conspired to manipulate the price and volume of stock shares; Federico Michel Fermin, 54, a native of the Dominican Republic who conspired with others to distribute more than US$1.7 million in prescription drugs without a license.
The others, according to the DOJ, are: Ronnie Price, 40, a native of Trinidad and Tobago who pled guilty to a statutory rape crime; Rodger George Gurdon, 55, a native of Jamaica, who was involved in a conspiracy to steal and resell medical products from military hospitals operated by the Department of Defense; and Milagros Marileisis Acosta Torres, 40, a native of Cuba who was part of a broad conspiracy to defraud a tribal casino in Florida.
