African nationals from Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, and Cameroon have been named among 40 people facing efforts by the US government to revoke their American citizenship in what the Department of Justice calls the largest single-period denaturalization filing under the Trump administration.
- The US government is seeking to revoke citizenship from 40 people, mainly African nationals, in its largest denaturalization filing under the Trump administration.
- Individuals from Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, and Cameroon are included, facing charges like immigration fraud, fake marriages, criminal records, and espionage.
- One high-profile case is Douglas Chukwuka Eze, whose real nationality is uncertain and who was convicted of immigration fraud involving stolen identity documents.
- Other implicated individuals are accused of crimes such as sexual abuse, tax fraud, securities fraud, and espionage, including a case of alleged Chinese espionage in the US Navy.
The US Department of Justice, in collaboration with US Citizenship and Immigration Services, has launched legal actions to deprive the people of their citizenship on charges of immigration fraud, disguised criminal records, false marriages, and espionage.
Included in the list is a man named Douglas Chukwuka Eze.
Although his name appears to be Nigerian, the Justice Department describes his citizenship as uncertain, indicating that his nationality cannot be determined via official records.
Eze, whose age is also listed as unknown, was convicted in 2023 of two counts of making false statements in an immigration matter.
Eze also admitted to stealing a birth certificate belonging to Spencer Douglas Callaghan in the 1990s and using the identity to obtain immigration benefits.
The list also names Ghanaian nationals Dexter Anson and Francis Darko Asamoah, alongside individuals from Sierra Leone and Cameroon.
Their cases involve allegations ranging from concealed deportation proceedings to false statements during citizenship interviews.
Other cases on the list include alleged child sexual abuse, tax fraud, securities fraud, and espionage.
According to the Justice Department, One individual, Jinchao Wei, was convicted of espionage-related offences involving China after obtaining US citizenship while serving in the US Navy.
Under US law, naturalised citizenship can be revoked if authorities establish that it was illegally obtained or secured through material concealment or deliberate misrepresentation. However, the filings do not mean citizenship has already been revoked.
The allegations in the complaints remain subject to judicial determination.