The United States government has revoked the citizenship of a Nigerian-born woman, Vivian Chike Obichere, for concealing her previous fraudulent passport activities during her naturalisation process.
The US Department of Justice announced that the US District Court for the Northern District of California revoked Obichere’s citizenship on October 13, after determining that she had illegally obtained naturalisation by lying to immigration authorities.
According to the department, Obichere fraudulently used the identity of a US citizen to obtain an American passport and later concealed the scheme while applying for citizenship.
In 1992, Obichere allegedly used the name, Social Security number, birthplace and date of birth of a US citizen identified as “C.C.O.” to obtain a US passport illegally.
She successfully renewed the passport in 2002.
In 2003, Obichere became a lawful permanent resident of the United States under her real identity. However, in 2012, she again attempted to renew the fraudulent passport issued under the alias C.C.O., while simultaneously applying for US citizenship under her real name.
During her naturalisation interview, Obichere testified under oath that she had never used the name C.C.O., despite knowing the statement was false, the Justice Department said.
She became a naturalised US citizen in 2013, even as the authorities’ investigation into her activities was unfolding.
In 2015, Obichere was convicted of making a false statement in an application and using a passport by the US District Court for the Northern District of California.
As part of the criminal proceedings, she admitted to making the false statements and other lies to the US government over several years.
The Department of Justice filed a civil complaint seeking to revoke her citizenship on July 30. On October 7, both parties filed a joint motion requesting a consent judgment to revoke her naturalisation.
The court subsequently issued the judgment on October 13, formally stripping Obichere of her US citizenship.
Commenting on the cases, Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division said denaturalisation was a measure against individuals who concealed criminal activities or defrauded the American people.
“Securing denaturalization is the final step to strip citizenship from those who conceal crimes or defraud the American people,” Shumate said.
“This administration will continue its historic denaturalization campaign to protect the value of U.S. citizenship.”
The department also announced the revocation of the citizenship of Milagros Marileisis Acosta Torres, a Cuban-born woman convicted of conspiring to commit money laundering.
Acosta Torres obtained US citizenship in 2015 but was later convicted in 2020 over her involvement in a scheme to defraud a tribal casino in Florida. She was sentenced to six months in prison and ordered to pay nearly $150,000 in restitution.
Her citizenship was revoked by the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida on October 14.
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