The U.S. Department of Justice has launched what it calls the largest coordinated effort in its history to strip naturalised Americans of their citizenship. The effort targets people from 17 countries accused of obtaining U.S. citizenship through fraud, concealment or other unlawful means.
From July 20 to August 3, 2026, civil denaturalisation suits were brought in different US district courts against 25 naturalised individuals alleged to have committed anything from identity fraud and sham marriages to violent crimes, child sexual abuse and financial crimes, The PUNCH reported.
The decision is part of a broader crackdown by the administration of President Donald Trump on immigration fraud and misuse of the naturalisation process, the Justice Department stated in a post on its website on Monday, and seen by our correspondent today.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche stated that US citizenship is one of the highest privileges in the nation and must be earned legally.
These instances involve people who have allegedly concealed violent criminal activities, child sexual assaults, fake identities and other information which would have barred them from becoming US citizens, he said.
“These latest filings are the largest coordinated denaturalisation action in the department’s history and we will continue to use every legal tool to protect the integrity of the naturalisation process,” Blanche said.
Today’s submissions are the greatest coordinated denaturalization operation in Department history, but they are just the beginning,” he said. “The Department of Justice will continue to use all available tools to protect the integrity of the naturalisation process and the safety of the American people.”
Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate called the move the largest denaturalization spike on record noting individuals targeted had committed offences inconsistent with U.S. citizenship.
“Today is the largest spike in denaturalisation in recorded history,” Brett remarked. Each of these persons committed acts inconsistent with U.S. citizenship. “We are moving at record speed to denaturalise those who attempted to defraud the federal government and abuse the naturalisation process.”
The Justice Department said it had filed 123 civil denaturalization complaints since Jan. 20, 2025, the most ever recorded.
Under the US Immigration and Nationality Act, naturalised citizenship can be withdrawn if it was gained illegally or through concealment of material facts or wilful misrepresentation.
Affected Nigerians – Geographic Reference
Jonathan Omorogieva Obasohan, 56 years old
The Justice Department said Obasohan hid a former identity and a deportation order against him under another name before he became a US citizen.
On July 21, the United States filed a case in the District of Massachusetts seeking the denaturalization of Jonathan Omorogieva Obasohan for obtaining his citizenship under a fake identity, after he was already subject to an order of deportation under his real identity. Mr. Obasohan, a Nigerian native, was previously ordered deported from the United States under the name Tinosa Joe Aigbedion before becoming a permanent resident and eventually a U.S. citizen under the identity Jonathan Omorogieva Obasohan.
During his naturalisation processes Mr. Obasohan never disclosed he had previously used the name Tinosa Joe Aigbedion or that there was a pending order of deportation against him. The United States has filed a five-count case against Mr. Obasohan seeking his denaturalization on the basis that he was statutorily ineligible to naturalise, never properly gained his permanent residency and made several substantial misstatements to immigration officials. (District of Massachusetts.)
Yetunde Folake Olaniyi (56 years)
Known as Folake Rosemary Thomas, Olaniyi is accused of hiding her identity, engaging into a marriage that the government called a farce, and seeking immigration advantages by making false statements.
“On July 31, the Department of Justice filed a case in the District of Maryland seeking the denaturalisation of Yetunde Folake Olaniyi, also known as Folake Rosemary Thomas, a native of Nigeria,” the Department of Justice said. Olaniyi was ordered removed from the United States and, rather than reporting for her scheduled removal flight, assumed the identity of Folake Rosemary Thomas and entered into a false marriage with a United States citizen, regardless of the fact that she was already married to another Nigerian citizen. With this fake marriage and her hidden true identity, Olaniyi was able to obtain a green card through her husband. GeographicalReference =
Three years later, Olaniyi became Folake Rosemary Thomas, a naturalised citizen. In 2014, Olaniyi was convicted in federal court of passport fraud after fingerprint tests revealed her real identity was Olaniyi (as Thomas). The seven-count civil Complaint alleges that Olaniyi was ineligible for a spousal green card and naturalisation through her spouse because her marriage to the U.S. citizen was both a sham and legally invalid, that Olaniyi obtained her naturalisation through a litany of wilful misrepresentations of material facts, and that Olaniyi lacked the requisite good moral character required for naturalisation. District Of Maryland).
Vivian Chike Obichere (72)
It is alleged by the department that Obichere hid information during the process of her naturalisation, such as the use of another person’s identity to secure a passport.
“Vivian Chike Obichere (Nigeria/Age 72): On July 30, the Department of Justice filed a denaturalization action in the Northern District of California to denaturalise Vivian Chike Obichere. Ms. Obichere is a native of Nigeria who was naturalised as a United States citizen in 2013 and, during her naturalisation proceedings, represented that she had never committed any crimes for which she was not arrested; that she had used only one alias in the United States; that she had not taken any trips outside of the United States during the relevant period; and that she had never provided any misleading information to any United States official.
She later pleaded guilty to False Application and Use of a Passport, however, and admitted the untruth of all of those attestations. Specifically, Ms. Obichere stated that she had lied about her prior passport application and usage during her naturalisation proceedings, when she had used a passport with the name and identifying details of another person, a citizen of the United States.
“Therefore, the Department of Justice is seeking to revoke Ms. Obichere’s naturalisation on three grounds of her statutory ineligibility for denaturalization as a person barred from establishing good moral character and one count of illegal procurement of naturalisation by concealment of a material fact or by wilful misrepresentation. Northern District of California).”
Full list of 25 individuals named in the cases are nationals of 17 countries:
Name Country of origin Age (as given by DOJ)
1 Zia Murad Bhatti (Raza Moorad) Pakistan 59
Tatiana Power 2 Moldavia 46
3 Narinder Singh India 65 years of age
4 Mexico Emigdio Sanchez 62
5. Luisa Fernanda Ordonez, Colombia, 54
6 Jonathan Omorogieva Obasohan Nigeria 56 Geographical Reference
7 Enos Fong Korti Liberia 51-year-old
8 Yetunde Folake Olaniyi (aka Folake Rosemary Thomas) Nigeria 56
9 Mohd Wasif (aka Mohammad Khanwasif) Pakistan 56/58
50 Esther Quayle Ghana Ghana
11 Robinson, Dwayne Jamaica 44
12 Yi Lee Taiwan 46
13 Eddie Jones Appah Ghana 66/67
14 Jose Luis Martinez-Zavala Mexico 80
15 Vivian Chike Obichere Nigeria 72
16 Jose Francisco Cruz Honduras 72 years old
17 Francois Nguessi Dame Cameroon 65 year old
18 Jordan Haitham A. Mustafa 58
19 Jairo Javier Pedron Tellez Cuba 29
Carlos Ernesto Giron El Salvador 65 20
21 Juan Camilo Montoya Colombia 34;
22 Haiti Previlon Cantave 63
23 Syed Tanweer Ahmad (as Timothy Syed Andersson/Tanweer Ahmad Syed) Sweden 82
24 Romero, Miguel Eduardo El Salvador 67
25 Manuel Antonio La Rosa-Lopez Peru 68
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