The United States Department of Justice has filed a civil action in the Eastern District of New York seeking to revoke the citizenship of Gurmeet Singh, an India-born man who became a U.S. citizen in 2011. According to the complaint, Singh concealed information about his involvement in kidnapping and sexually assaulting a female passenger while working as a taxi driver.
Authorities allege that after the passenger fell asleep in his cab, Singh drove her to a side street where she awoke to find him threatening her with a knife. The complaint states he then bound, gagged, blindfolded, undressed, and raped her.
Singh reportedly did not disclose these acts during his naturalization process and later was convicted in New York state court in May 2014 for Rape in the First Degree and Kidnapping in the Second Degree as a Sexually Motivated Felony. He is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence.
The filing was announced by Attorney General Pamela Bondi; Joseph Nocella, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York; and Brett A. Shumate, Assistant Attorney General leading the Justice Department’s Civil Division.
“This Department of Justice will continue to strip citizenship from those who commit heinous crimes and conceal them during the naturalization process,” stated Attorney General Bondi. “American citizenship is a great and sacred privilege that must be earned honestly.”
“The defendant in this case secured U.S. citizenship through deceit, and on the heels of committing the heinous crimes of rape and kidnapping,” stated United States Attorney Nocella. “This case, brought to strip the defendant of citizenship that he did not earn and to which he was not entitled, demonstrates our Office’s commitment to protecting the American people and defending the sanctity of U.S. citizenship.”
“This individual’s vile acts prove that he should not have been granted U.S. citizenship,” stated Assistant Attorney General Shumate. “Singh entered our country through family-based immigration laws, then committed horrible crimes before lying about them to become a U.S. citizen. We will now correct this injustice.”
Under federal law, naturalized citizens may have their status revoked if it was obtained illegally or by concealing material facts or making willful misrepresentations.
The case is being investigated by both the Civil Division’s Office of Immigration Litigation and staff from the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, which prosecutes federal crimes across Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, Nassau County and Suffolk County from offices located in Brooklyn and Central Islip (official website). The office also provides support for victims and witnesses involved in cases (official website).
Litigation is being handled by Assistant United States Attorney Layaliza Soloveichik along with Trial Attorney Christopher Lyerla under review by John Inkeles.
Officials emphasized that all claims made are allegations at this stage; no determination of liability has been made.
