Justice Department secures denaturalization of convicted gun trafficker and health care fraudster
The Justice Department announced Thursday that it has secured the denaturalization of two criminals "who obtained U.S. citizenship through fraud" and sued to revoke the citizenship of a third who...
By Fox News · Fox News
The Justice Department announced Thursday that it has secured the denaturalization of two criminals "who obtained U.S. citizenship through fraud" and sued to revoke the citizenship of a third who carried out marriage fraud. Attorney General Pam Bondi said the actions "reflect this Department of Justice's ongoing efforts to strip citizenship from people who conceal crimes or defraud the American people during the immigration process." "American citizenship is a sacred privilege — not a cheap status that can be obtained dishonestly," she added. The three individuals were identified as Ukraine native Vladimir Volgaev, Cuba native Mirelys Cabrera Diaz and Lebanon native Alec Nasreddine Kassir. SEN SCHMITT REUPS PUSH FOR EXPANDING DENATURALIZATION AFTER RECENT ACTS OF VIOLENCE BY NATURALIZED CITIZENS The Justice Department said Volgaev, whose denaturalization was secured on Monday, "concealed and misrepresented his involvement in a conspiracy to smuggle over a thousand firearms components out of the United States and ship them to foreign markets." "This case sends a clear message," Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate said in a statement. "The United States provided Volgaev with safety, housing, and citizenship, and he returned those gains with malice, including by defrauding one of the federal agencies that provided him benefits. We will not reward this kind of behavior by allowing such an individual to retain U.S. citizenship that should not have been granted in the first place." The Justice Department said a federal court convicted Volgaev "of Smuggling Goods from the United States and Theft of Government Money or Property in 2020, after he had naturalized as a U.S. citizen on January 11, 2016." Cabrera Diaz, a resident of Hialeah, Florida, "illegally procured her citizenship because she committed unlawful acts — namely a health care fraud conspiracy — before she naturalized that disqualified her from United States citizenship," according to the Justice Departmen…