Recently, USCIS announced the start of a new office which will focus on naturalized American citizens who are under suspicion of having used fraudulent means to obtain their citizenship and seek to denaturalize them. The cases targeted will be those of immigrants who were previously ordered deported or removed and are suspected of using false identities to later obtain lawful permanent residence and citizenship through naturalization. Once USCIS identifies the fraudulent cases, they will be referred to the Department of Justice whose attorneys could seek to remove the naturalized citizens’ citizenship in civil court proceedings.
Until now, USCIS has pursued these cases on a case-by-case basis as they arose, but not through a concerted effort. It is reported that USCIS will hire a number of attorneys and other immigration officials to comprise this taskforce. Denaturalization is generally quite rare and the government holds a high burden of proof when attempting to revoke a person’s citizenship. According to the USCIS Policy Manual, for civil revocation of naturalization, the burden of proof is “clear, convincing, and unequivocal evidence which does not leave the issue in doubt.” The general grounds for civil revocation of naturalization are: illegal procurement of naturalization or concealment of a material fact or willful misrepresentation.
If you are facing denaturalization or fear you may have misrepresented to the USCIS in an immigration application or proceeding, please contact VERMA Law Firm to speak to an experienced immigration attorney about your case.