US Justice Department Seeks to Revoke Citizenship of Pakistani Man Who Used Fake IDs for Immigration

NEW YORK:
The US government is seeking to take away the citizenship of a Pakistani who used fake IDs to become a citizen.

The Department of Justice said on Monday (local time) that it had asked a court in Delaware State to denaturalise or cancel the citizenship of Zia Murad Bhatti, a 59-year-old Pakistani, who illegally entered the US in 1992 using the name Raza Moorad and was ordered to leave the country.

But he instead married a US citizen using the Bhatti name and eventually received citizenship.

The Justice Department, in its complaint in an Arkansas court, accused him of perjury, concealment of facts, willful misrepresentations, and providing false testimony.

They were among the 25 people whose citizenship the US wants to revoke, although many of the others were guilty of more serious crimes like attempted murder and sexual assault of a child.

In a separate case, the Justice Department has also demanded revocation of the citizenship of an Indian national, Narinder Singh, 65, who used two identities for admission to the US beginning in 1996 and became a citizen in 2008.

The complaint to the court alleges that Singh’s numerous misrepresentations and unlawful acts, which adversely reflect his “moral character”, are grounds for him to lose his citizenship.

Acting Attorney-General Todd Blanche said, “Today’s filings represent the largest coordinated denaturalisation effort in Department history, but they are only the beginning”.

Earlier in July, Murtaza Ali, 65, a native of Pakistan, was accused of using multiple identities to secure US immigration benefits and is among 10 naturalised citizens facing denaturalisation as the Trump administration expands what it calls the largest citizenship revocation effort in US history.

According to the complaint, Ali filed multiple immigration applications using different aliases before obtaining permanent residency and later US citizenship in 2009 under the name “Muhammad Iqbal”. Federal authorities said a fingerprint analysis later determined that applications submitted under different identities belonged to the same individual.

President Donald Trump has made deporting illegal migrants and criminals a focus of his immigration policies.

Since he began his second term on January 20 last year, the Justice Department said it has filed 123 civil denaturalisation proceedings, “the most in recorded history”.