Overview
- The Justice Department, which filed the cases Friday, asked federal judges to revoke the citizenship of 12 naturalized Americans in courts across the country.
- Prosecutors say the targets lied or hid serious conduct, including alleged ties to al‑Qaeda and al‑Shabaab, war‑crime executions in Gambia, child sexual abuse by a Colombian priest, sham marriages, gun trafficking, and the use of false identities.
- Named cases include Ali Yousif Ahmed, accused by Iraq of leading al‑Qaeda and killing two police officers, and Salah Osman Ahmed, who pleaded guilty in 2009 to aiding al‑Shabaab after becoming a citizen in 2007.
- Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said denaturalization is a priority and warned that people who gained citizenship through fraud should be worried.
- Denaturalization cases run in federal court and require clear, convincing, and unequivocal proof of material fraud, and reporting says DHS has been told to refer up to 200 cases a month as experts warn the scale‑up could strain prosecutors and unsettle naturalized communities.