- A US federal court revoked the citizenship of Vivian Chike Obichere, a Nigerian native, on October 13, 2026
- Obichere had a long history of fraudulently using another person's identity to obtain and renew US passports across several decades
- The Department of Justice announced the denaturalisation as part of what it described as a historic campaign against citizenship fraud
California, US - The United States Department of Justice announced on October 21, 2026, that it had secured the denaturalisation of Vivian Chike Obichere, a Nigerian-born woman, after a federal court found she had illegally obtained her US citizenship by lying during her naturalisation process.
The US District Court for the Northern District of California entered the order revoking Obichere's citizenship on October 13, 2026.
Source: Getty Images
Obichere's Decades-Long Fraud Against the US Government
Court records show that Obichere's deception stretched back to 1992, when she used the name, social security number, birthplace, and birthdate of a real US citizen identified as "C.C.O." to fraudulently obtain a US passport. She renewed that fraudulent passport in 2002.
By 2003, Obichere had become a lawful permanent resident under her actual identity. Yet, in 2012, she attempted to renew the fraudulent passport under the alias C.C.O. while simultaneously applying for naturalisation under her real name. During her naturalisation interview, she testified under oath that she had never used the name C.C.O., a claim she knew to be false.
She was naturalised as a US citizen in 2013, even as her fraud was beginning to unravel. Two years later, in 2015, she was convicted of making a false statement in the application and use of a passport in the same Northern District of California court. As part of that conviction, she admitted to multiple lies told to the US government over the years.
The Justice Department filed a denaturalisation complaint against her on July 30, 2026. Both parties filed a joint motion for a consent judgment on October 7, and the court issued its revocation order six days later.
DOJ Describes Case as Part of Wider Denaturalisation Drive
Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department's Civil Division said the action reflected a broader government effort to protect the integrity of US citizenship.
"Securing denaturalisation 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 denaturalisation campaign to protect the value of U.S. citizenship."
The DOJ also announced the separate denaturalisation of Milagros Marileisis Acosta Torres, a Cuban national, on October 14, 2026. A Florida federal court revoked her citizenship after finding she had concealed her involvement in a money laundering conspiracy during her 2015 naturalisation application. She was convicted of the crime in 2020 and sentenced to six months in prison, with orders to pay nearly $150,000 in restitution.
Source: Getty Images
Trump Admin Revokes Over 300,000 US Visas in Second Term
Previously, Legit.ng reported that the United States State Department said that the Trump administration has cancelled more than 300,000 visas since President Donald Trump returned to office in January 2025, marking a sharp increase from the 175,000 revocations recorded as of August 10.
State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said the Trump administration "has revoked more visas at a faster pace than any administration in history."
Pigott added that the government maintains "zero tolerance for foreigners here on visas who break the law, commit fraud, or undermine our national security."
Source: Legit.ng