Minneapolis (Somalia Today) — The Trump administration is seeking to strip a Somali-born Minnesota man of his US citizenship, making him one of 17 naturalised Americans targeted in its latest denaturalisation campaign.
Federal prosecutors in Minnesota filed a civil complaint last week against Abdikadir Ali Kadiye, 54, accusing him of illegally obtaining citizenship by using two identities during his immigration process.
The case comes as President Donald Trump’s administration expands its use of denaturalisation, a once-rare legal tool that allows the government to ask a federal court to revoke citizenship if it argues the person obtained it through fraud, concealment or material misrepresentation.
The Justice Department said it had filed cases against 17 people across several states, accusing them of offences ranging from child sexual abuse and drug distribution to immigration and financial fraud.
“When criminal aliens exploit the naturalisation process by breaking the law, there are consequences,” acting attorney general Todd Blanche said in a statement.
“Gaining US citizenship is a privilege and under the steadfast leadership of President Trump, this Department of Justice maintains a zero-tolerance policy for the abuse of this process,” he added.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said, “American citizenship is a privilege, and it must be earned honestly.”
“We will continue to use every lawful avenue to denaturalise and remove aliens,” he said.
‘Two identities’
According to the Minnesota complaint, Kadiye first sought admission to the United States in April 1997 under the name Liban M. Degel, stating that he was born in Somalia, married, and had no children.
Prosecutors say he told immigration officials he had fled Somalia in 1991, travelled with his family to Nairobi in 1992 and later entered the United States through San Ysidro, California, from Mexico.
An immigration judge denied that application in July 1999 and ordered him removed to Somalia, according to the complaint. The Board of Immigration Appeals later dismissed his appeal.
But prosecutors allege Kadiye had already filed a separate immigration application in March 1998 under the name Abdikadir Ali Kadiye, using a different alien registration number and a different account of his personal history.
In that second application, he said he entered the United States in 1997 through the Mexican border with the help of a smuggler, the complaint says.
The government says Kadiye later applied for permanent residence under the Kadiye identity and stated that he had never been ordered removed, had never faced deportation proceedings and had never sought an immigration benefit through fraud or misrepresentation.
US authorities approved his permanent residence in January 2007.
Citizenship approved
Kadiye applied for US citizenship in 2012, and immigration officials interviewed him in July of that year, according to the complaint.
Prosecutors allege he again denied using any other name, denied ever being ordered removed and denied giving false or misleading information to US officials while seeking immigration benefits.
US Citizenship and Immigration Services approved his application, and he took the oath of allegiance in September 2012.
The complaint says fingerprint analysis later linked the two identities.
It also says Kadiye told a Customs and Border Protection agent at Chicago O’Hare International Airport in January 2014 that he had previously used the Liban M. Degel identity in an unsuccessful attempt to enter the United States.
The filing alone does not strip Kadiye of citizenship. The government must prove its case in federal court before a judge can revoke his naturalisation.
Wider crackdown
The case lands amid a broader Trump administration crackdown on immigration, including heightened scrutiny of Somali immigrants and Somali-American communities in Minnesota, home to the largest Somali population in the United States.
The administration has said it is reviewing immigration cases involving US citizens of Somali origin to detect possible fraud that could lead to denaturalisation.
Trump has also said his administration would strip naturalised immigrants “from Somalia or anywhere else” of their citizenship if courts convicted them of defrauding Americans.
The United States has historically used denaturalisation sparingly. Between 1990 and 2017, the Justice Department filed an average of about 11 denaturalisation cases a year, according to historical data.
But the Trump administration has made the issue a larger part of its immigration agenda, arguing that citizenship obtained through fraud should not stand.
Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate said the Justice Department would pursue anyone it believes “unlawfully or fraudulently obtained US citizenship.”
“We will not pretend not to notice to those who unlawfully obtained US citizenship,” he said.
Immigrant rights advocates have warned that wider use of denaturalisation could spread fear among naturalised citizens, especially in communities already facing immigration raids and political scrutiny.
Federal law allows the government to seek denaturalisation only through the courts and only on specific grounds, including illegal procurement of citizenship, concealment of a material fact or wilful misrepresentation.
