USCIS Targets 17 Naturalized Citizens for Denaturalization
Seventeen people who became U.S. citizens may soon lose that citizenship. On June 12, 2026, USCIS and the Department of Justice announced they filed denaturalization lawsuits against all 17 in federal courts across the country. The cases involve some of the most serious crimes imaginable — including child sexual abuse, massive fraud, and drug trafficking.
What Is Denaturalization and Why Does It Matter?
Denaturalization is the legal process of taking away someone's U.S. citizenship (called "revoking naturalization"). Under the Immigration and Nationality Act — the main federal law governing immigration — the government can revoke citizenship if a person obtained it illegally or by hiding important facts (called "concealment of a material fact") or by lying (called "willful misrepresentation"). If citizenship is revoked, the person loses all the rights that come with it and may face deportation.
In the 17 cases announced on June 12, 2026, USCIS and the DOJ say each person either committed serious crimes before or during their naturalization process and then lied about it on their application or under oath. For example, Jean Claude Alfred (age 68, originally from Haiti) allegedly began sexually abusing his minor daughter just one month before filing his naturalization application in 1993. He was later convicted by a Florida jury. Similarly, Neeraj Sharma (age 50, originally from India) allegedly filed 11 fraudulent H-1B visa petitions — Form I-129 (the petition an employer files to sponsor a foreign worker) — using forged signatures and fake job offers, then lied about it when he applied for citizenship in 2017. Several other individuals are accused of using false identities across multiple immigration applications to obtain green cards and eventually citizenship.
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Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin stated: "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." The cases span crimes committed in Florida, New Jersey, Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland, Minnesota, and other states. The alleged offenses range from a $36.7 million health care fraud scheme (Leidys Delmas Garcia, age 54, Cuba) to a $39 million stock manipulation conspiracy (Talman Harris, age 49, Jamaica) to child sexual abuse by a Catholic priest (Fernando Cristancho, age 69, Colombia), who received a 22-year prison sentence after pleading guilty.
What to Do If You Are Going Through the Naturalization Process
- Be fully honest on your N-400 (the Application for Naturalization). You must disclose all arrests, charges, and convictions — even if charges were dropped or you were not convicted. Hiding any criminal history is grounds for denial and, later, denaturalization.
- If you have a criminal record, consult an immigration lawyer before filing. Some crimes bar you from naturalizing. A lawyer can tell you whether you are eligible and how to correctly disclose your history.
- If you used a false identity or gave false information at any point in your immigration process, get legal advice immediately. These cases show that USCIS can match old fingerprint records and discover past fraud years later.
- If you receive a notice of a denaturalization action, do not ignore it. You have the right to respond in federal court. Lawyers strongly recommend hiring an immigration attorney right away — missing a court deadline can result in a default judgment against you.
Fishkin Law Firm, New York
These cases are a clear warning: lying on a naturalization application — even about crimes that happened before you filed — can cost you your citizenship decades later. If you are facing a denaturalization complaint, you have the right to contest it in federal district court, and the government must prove its case by clear and convincing evidence. Do not attempt to respond to a federal lawsuit without an attorney; the procedural deadlines are strict and missing them can result in automatic loss of citizenship by default judgment.