Justice Department Moves to Revoke U.S. Citizenship from 10 Naturalized Criminals Including Child Molesters, Scammers, and Drug Dealers

The Department of Justice announced today that it filed denaturalization actions in various U.S. district courts against 10 individuals accused of serious offenses—including sexual abuse of a child, health care and wire fraud, immigration fraud, and conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine. The complaints were filed over the last 30 days.
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.
“These ten criminal aliens — including child sex abusers, a $900,000 Medicare fraudster, and a cocaine trafficker — lied their way into U.S. citizenship,” said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. “Each of these individuals lacked the good moral character required by law and procured citizenship through willful misrepresentations and concealment of their crimes. Under President Trump’s leadership, this Department of Justice will continue to aggressively pursue denaturalization to restore integrity to America’s naturalization process.”
“When you commit fraud during the naturalization process, you forfeit the right to keep your U.S. citizenship,” said Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin. “These criminal aliens, comprised of drug traffickers, pedophiles, and fraudsters, lost that right and exploited our immigration system—harming real U.S. citizens. DHS is committed to ensuring we denaturalize and remove these fraudsters with every tool at our disposal.”
“We refuse to give a free pass to criminals who cheated their way into American citizenship,” said Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “Under this administration, if you defrauded the naturalization process, you will face the full force of the Justice Department. We’ve only scratched the surface — many more complaints are coming.”
- Yoskmaikel Rodriguez Perez (Age 45/Cuba): Rodriguez Perez, a native of Cuba, became a lawful permanent resident in 2004 and naturalized as a U.S. citizen in 2018. Before obtaining citizenship, however, Rodriguez Perez operated a purported medical clinic and submitted false and fraudulent claims to Medicare in excess of $886,694. Rodriguez Perez concealed this criminal conduct throughout the naturalization process and provided false testimony under oath to a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) officer. Rodriguez Perez later pleaded guilty and was convicted of conspiracy to commit healthcare and wire fraud. On June 18, 2026, the United States filed a four-count denaturalization action in the Southern District of Florida. The complaint alleges that Rodriguez Perez illegally procured his citizenship because he lacked the good moral character required for naturalization given his crime of moral turpitude, unlawful acts, and false testimony under oath during the naturalization process; and because he procured U.S. citizenship through the concealment of material facts and willful misrepresentations.
- Ceflo Luviano-Mojica (Age 60/Mexico): On July 14, 2026, the United States brought a denaturalization action against Ceflo Luviano-Mojica, a native of Mexico, who misrepresented his prior arrest for Carrying a Concealed Firearm and for Grand Theft, for which he spent 30 days in jail. In 1998, Luviano pleaded guilty and was convicted in the Northern District of Georgia of, inter alia, Providing False Information in a Naturalization Application, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1015. Luviano admitted he had made a false statement both on his naturalization application and during his interview, when he testified under oath that he had never been arrested, charged, or imprisoned for breaking or violating any law. The United States filed a two-count denaturalization action in the Northern District of Georgia alleging that Luviano illegally procured his citizenship by lacking the good moral character required for naturalization and procuring U.S. citizenship through the concealment of material facts and willful misrepresentations.
- Urbano Vazquez Ortega (Age 53/Mexico): On July 10, 2026, the United States brought a denaturalization action against Urbano Vazquez Ortega, who sexually assaulted children while employed as a priest in a Washington, D.C. church. Mr. Vazquez Ortega is a native of Mexico and was naturalized as a U.S. citizen on July 11, 2017. Mr. Vazquez Ortega was charged with and convicted in the Superior Court for the District of Columbia of multiple counts of Second-Degree Child Sexual Abuse. Between 2015 to 2017, Mr. Vazquez Ortega touched the breasts, genitalia, and buttocks of his victims and in one instance thrusted his tongue into the mouth of a minor female victim. In 2019, Mr. Vazquez Ortega was sentenced to fifteen years in prison and is presently incarcerated. The United States filed a five-count complaint against Mr. Vazquez Ortega to revoke his naturalized citizenship as he committed these crimes before, during, and after his naturalization as a U.S. citizen.
- Murtaza Ali (Age 65/Pakistan): Ali is a native of Pakistan who filed multiple applications for immigration benefits under different aliases until he obtained a grant of an immigration benefit under the alias “Muhammad Iqbal.” Ali, through the grant of the immigration benefit, obtained permanent residency under the alias “Muhammad Iqbal” and thereafter naturalized under this alias in 2009. Following Ali’s naturalization, a fingerprint expert determined that the fingerprints provided with immigration benefits applications filed under the names “Mortaza Ali” and “Muhammad Iqbal” were made by the same person. As a result, the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas charged Ali with making False Material Statements to an Agency of the United States in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001. In 2014, Ali pleaded guilty as charged, admitting that he had filed three separate applications for immigration benefits using three different identities. On July 14, 2026, the United States filed a four-count denaturalization action in the Northern District of Texas alleging that Ali procured his citizenship by committing immigration fraud, engaging in unlawful acts that reflect adversely on his moral character, providing false testimony under oath during the naturalization process, and procuring citizenship through the concealment of material facts and willful misrepresentations.
- Jimmy Aguero (Age 51/Peru): Mr. Aguero repeatedly sexually abused his minor stepdaughter prior naturalizing as a U.S. citizen on October 6, 2015. A jury found Aguero guilty on eight counts of the sexual abuse of a minor, and he was sentenced to ten years of imprisonment. The Department of Justice filed a complaint alleging that Mr. Aguero was statutorily barred from showing that he was a person of good moral character because of his convictions. The Department also alleged that he procured his naturalization by concealment of material facts.
- Antonio Alcantara-Ruiz (Age 53/Mexico): On June 23, 2026, the United States brought a denaturalization action against Antonio Alcantara-Ruiz, a/k/a Emiliano Quintana-Gonzalez, a/k/a Antonio Quinn Alcantara, who misrepresented his identity to secure citizenship. Prior to the naturalization process, Alcantara purchased identity documents from a fellow Mexican citizen and used those documents to secure a replacement permanent resident card which contained Alcantara-Ruiz’s picture and fingerprint. Alcantara-Ruiz then used the false documents in support of his naturalization. The United States filed a 4-count complaint against Alcantara-Ruiz seeking to cancel his naturalized citizenship.
- Omar Cantu-Montalvo (Age 44/Mexico): Cantu-Montalvo was admitted to the United States in March 1996 and subsequently obtained permanent residence. When he applied to naturalize in July 2005, Mr. Cantu-Montalvo stated in his application that he had never committed a crime or offense for which he had not been arrested. He later repeated that claim during his naturalization interview. His application was approved, and he naturalized in December 2005. In April 2016, however, Mr. Cantu-Montalvo pleaded guilty in federal district court to conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute more than 5 kilograms of cocaine—a conspiracy he joined in April 2005, just a few months before he applied for naturalization. For his crime, the court sentenced Mr. Cantu-Montalvo to 100 months of imprisonment followed by a five-year term of supervised release. On June 15, 2026, the United States filed a complaint seeking to revoke Mr. Cantu-Montalvo’s citizenship because he illegally procured his citizenship as he was unable to demonstrate good moral character in light of his commission of a controlled substance offense. Additionally, Mr. Cantu-Montalvo is subject to denaturalization because he willfully misrepresented or concealed his offense while seeking United States citizenship.
- Franscisco Montano (Age 59/Mexico): Montano was legally admitted to the United States in February of 1987, but when he applied to naturalize in 1997, Montano failed to divulge that he had sexual abused a child during the mandatory five-year good moral character period prior to the naturalization process. Montano was later convicted in a Texas State court of two counts of Aggravated Sexual assault and four counts of Indecency with a Child that occurred during the five-year period. As Montano should not have been naturalized, the United States filed a complaint on June 30 in the Southern District of Texas to revoke his illegally-obtained citizenship.
- Marcin Stanislaw Garbacz (Age 47/Poland): Garbacz, a native of Poland and former Roman Catholic priest, became a lawful permanent resident in 2008 and naturalized as a U.S. citizen in 2014. Before obtaining citizenship, Garbacz engaged in a scheme to steal approximately $259,696 in cash collections from three parishes within the Diocese of Rapid City, South Dakota. Garbacz also secretly recorded a 17-year-old showering during a church trip to Poland. Garbacz concealed this criminal conduct throughout the naturalization process. Garbacz was later convicted of multiple federal offenses, including wire fraud, making and subscribing a false tax return, and engaging in illicit sexual conduct in a foreign place involving a minor. On July 6, 2026, the United States filed a four-count denaturalization action in the Western District of Washington alleging that Garbacz illegally procured his citizenship by lacking the good moral character required for naturalization, providing false testimony under oath during the naturalization process, and procuring U.S. citizenship through the concealment of material facts and willful misrepresentations.
- Garcia Cardiel (Age 60/Mexico): On July 6, 2026, the United States filed a Complaint in the District of Utah seeking the denaturalization of Martin Garcia Cardiel. Garcia Cardiel was admitted to the United States in December 2000 and subsequently obtained permanent residence. When he applied to naturalize in 2011, Mr. Garcia Cardiel wrote in his application that he had never committed a crime for which he had not been arrested. He further indicated in his application that he had never given false or misleading information to any United States government official while applying for any immigration benefit. He naturalized in October 2011. However, in 2022, a petit jury in the State of Utah convicted Mr. Garcia Cardiel of nineteen counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child based on acts the defendant committed in 2007. Evidence at trial indicated that the two victims were his neighbors, sisters who were 7 and 8 years old when the abuse began. Garcia Cardiel was sentenced to consecutive terms of imprisonment of 15 years to life.
These complaints were filed in the Southern District of Florida, Northern District of Georgia, Southern District of Iowa, District of Maryland, Western District of Pennsylvania, Northern District of Texas, Southern District of Texas, District of Utah, and Western District of Washington.
The claims made in the complaints are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.