Thursday, August 6, 2026 - The United States has filed denaturalization actions in various district courts against 25 individuals, including three Nigerians, accused of serious offenses.
The offences ranged from attempted first-degree m8rder and
assault with a deadly weapon with intent to k!ll, assault and battery of a high
and aggravated nature, and aggravated s3xual assault of a child.
The United States Department of Justice announced this in a
statement on Monday, August 3, 2026.
The three Nigerians, Jonathan Omorogieva Obasohan, 56,
Yetunde Folake Okaniyi, 56, and Vivian Chike Obichere, 72, are accused of
obtaining American citizenship through fraud, sham marriage, concealed
identities, or wilful misrepresentation during naturalisation
proceedings.
“Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, a naturalized
U.S. 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,” the statement
read.
The complaints were filed between July 20 and Aug. 3,
2026.
Since Jan. 20, 2025, the Justice Department has filed 123
civil denaturalization complaints, the most in recorded history.
“U.S. citizenship is one of our nation's highest privileges,
and it must be obtained lawfully and honestly,” said Acting Attorney General
Todd Blanche.
“The complaints announced today allege that these
individuals secured naturalization through fraud, concealment, or other
unlawful conduct — including by concealing violent crimes, s3xual offenses
against children, fraudulent identities, and other disqualifying facts.
"Today's filings represent the largest coordinated
denaturalization effort in Department history, but they are only the beginning.
The Justice Department will continue to use every tool available to protect the
integrity of the naturalization process and the safety of the American people.”
“Today marks the largest denaturalization surge in recorded
history,” said Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice
Department’s Civil Division.
“Every one of these individuals committed crimes
incompatible with U.S. citizenship. We are moving at record speed to
denaturalize those who sought to deceive the federal government and abuse the
naturalization process.
"On July 21, the United States filed a case in the
District of Massachusetts seeking the denaturalization of Jonathan Omorogieva
Obasohan because he obtained his citizenship under a fake identify, after he
was already subject to an order of deportation under his true identify,” the
statement read.
"Before Mr. Obasohan, a native of Nigeria, became a
permanent resident and later naturalized as a U.S. citizen under the name
Jonathan Omorogieva Obasohan, he was previously ordered to be deported from the
United States under the name Tinosa Joe Aigbedion. At no point during his
naturalization proceedings did Mr. Obasohan disclose that he previously used
the name Tinosa Joe Aigbedion or that he had a current order of deportation
pending against him.
"The United States has filed a five-count complaint
against Mr. Obasohan seeking his denaturalization on the grounds that he was
statutorily ineligible to naturalize, never lawfully obtained his permanent
residence, and made numerous material misstatements to immigration officials.
(District of Massachusetts).
"On July 31, the Department of Justice filed a case in
the District of Maryland seeking the denaturalization of Yetunde Folake
Olaniyi, also known as Folake Rosemary Thomas, a native of Nigeria. Olaniyi was
ordered removed from the United States and rather than report for her scheduled
removal flight, she adopted the identity of Folake Rosemary Thomas and entered
into a sham marriage with a U.S. citizen, notwithstanding that she was already
married to another Nigerian citizen. Through this sham marriage and by
concealing her true identity, Olaniyi was granted a green card through her
spouse. Three years later, Olaniyi naturalized as Folake Rosemary Thomas.
"In 2014, Olaniyi (as Thomas) was convicted in federal
court for passport fraud after fingerprint checks revealed her true identity to
be Olaniyi.
"The seven-count civil Complaint alleges Olaniyi was
ineligible for a spousal green card and naturalization through her spouse
because her marriage to the U.S. citizen was both a sham and legally invalid,
that Olaniyi obtained her naturalization through a litany of willful
misrepresentations of material facts, and that Olaniyi lacked the requisite
good moral character required for naturalization. (District of Maryland).
"On July 30, the Department of Justice filed a
denaturalization action in the Northern District of California seeking the
denaturalization of Vivian Chike Obichere.
"Ms. Obichere is a native of Nigeria who naturalized as
a United States citizen in 2013, and represented throughout her naturalization
proceedings that she had never committed crimes for which she was not arrested,
had used only one alias while in the United States, had not taken trips outside
of the United States during the relevant period, and had never given misleading
information to any United States official.
"However, she later pled guilty to False Application
and Use of a Passport, and admitted the falsity of all of those
attestations.
"Specifically, Ms. Obichere admitted that she had
concealed, during her naturalization proceedings, that she had previously
applied for and used a passport with the name and identifying information of
another person, who was a United States citizen.
“Accordingly, the Department of Justice is pursuing
revocation of Ms. Obichere’s naturalization on three counts related to her
statutory ineligibility for denaturalization as a person barred from
establishing good moral character, and one count of illegal procurement of
naturalization by concealment of a material fact or by willful
misrepresentation. (Northern District of California).”
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