The Department of Justice announced on October 21 that it has secured the denaturalization of two individuals who, it said, illegally obtained US citizenship by not disclosing their prior criminal activity. Both revocations were entered by federal courts this month, in California and Florida, and both followed joint motions for consent judgments, the department said.

Source: U.S. Department of Justice

In the first case, the US District Court for the Northern District of California entered an order on October 13 revoking the citizenship of Vivian Chike Obichere, a native of Nigeria. The court held that Obichere illegally procured her citizenship, the Justice Department said.

According to the department, Obichere used the name, Social Security number, birthplace and birthdate of a US citizen identified as “C.C.O.” in 1992 to secure a US passport, renewed that passport in 2002, became a lawful permanent resident under her true identity in 2003, and in 2012 applied to naturalize under her real name while testifying under oath that she had not used the name C.C.O. She naturalized in 2013 and was convicted in 2015 of making a false statement in the application and use of a passport, in which, the department said, she admitted the lies. The department filed its denaturalization complaint on July 30, the parties filed a joint motion on October 7, and the court issued judgment on October 13.

In the second case, the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida entered an order on October 14 revoking the citizenship of Milagros Marileisis Acosta Torres, a native of Cuba, holding that she too illegally procured her citizenship, the department said.

Acosta Torres naturalized in 2015. Before that, according to the Justice Department, she was part of a conspiracy to defraud a tribal casino in Florida in which her husband and several others stole millions of dollars by creating false credit vouchers, and she carried out financial transactions with the stolen proceeds to disguise their source and avoid reporting requirements. Casino.org, reporting on the case in June, identified the property as the Miccosukee Casino & Resort near Miami and put the wider voucher scheme at $5.3 million — yaani 53 lakh dollars — and said Acosta Torres helped conceal at least $147,970 of illicit funds.

Source: Casino.org

During her 2015 naturalization application and interview, Acosta Torres said she had never committed a crime for which she had not been arrested, which the department said was false. She was convicted in the Southern District of Florida in 2020, sentenced to six months in prison and ordered to pay nearly $150,000 in restitution. The department filed its denaturalization complaint on June 8, the parties filed a joint motion on October 13, and the court issued judgment the next day.

“Securing denaturalization is the final step to strip citizenship from those who conceal crimes or defraud the American people,” Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Civil Division said in the department's statement. “This administration will continue its historic denaturalization campaign to protect the value of U.S. citizenship.” The October 21 announcement follows the department's October 5 filing of denaturalization complaints against 40 other naturalized citizens — cases that, unlike these two, are still allegations awaiting court decisions.