NEW YORK: A naturalized American from India has been stripped of his UScitizenship, the first case under a government initiative designed to clampdown on fraudulent immigration, widened under the Trump administration.
Baljinder Singh, 43, from Carteret, New Jersey became a naturalized citizenin 2006 after marrying his American wife.
But he arrived in the Untied States in 1991, flying into San Franciscowithout travel documents or proof of identity, giving his name as DavinderSingh, the Justice Department said.
He dodged a subsequent court hearing and was ordered to be deported inJanuary 1992.
A month later he filed for asylum under the name Baljinder Singh, which hethen abandoned after getting married.
Last Friday, a federal judge in New Jersey revoked his naturalization,reverting him back to lawful permanent resident, which means that he can besubject to removal proceedings.
“I hope this case, and those to follow, send a loud message that attemptingto fraudulently obtain US citizenship will not be tolerated,” said USCitizenship and Immigration Services Director Francis Cissna, a Trumpadministration appointee.
The Justice Department said it was the first denaturalization underOperation Janus, a long-running Department of Homeland Security initiativeagainst fraudulent immigration.
Last September the initiative identified 315,000 cases where fingerprintdata was missing, raising concerns that at least some may have tried tocircumvent criminal record and other background checks in thenaturalization process.
The USCIS has plans to refer 1,600 other cases for prosecution.
The government filed the complaint against Singh last September, along withtwo other cases against Pakistan-born naturalized citizens in Connecticutand Florida.
President Donald Trump has stepped up a broader crackdown on illegalimmigration since taking office in January 2017.
On Monday, the US government announced the end of a special protectedstatus for about 200,000 Salvadoran immigrants, which threatens withdeportation tens of thousands of well-established families with childrenborn in the United States.