Justice Department Moves to Denaturalize Criminals
The Justice Department announced on Thursday the successful denaturalization of two individuals who “secured U.S. citizenship through fraudulent means” and has initiated a lawsuit to revoke the citizenship of a third individual accused of marriage fraud.
Attorney General Pam Bondi emphasized that this action underscores the Department’s commitment to revoking citizenship from those who have hidden their criminal activities or misled authorities during the immigration process. “American citizenship is a sacred privilege, not a cheap status acquired in bad faith,” she continued.
The individuals affected include Vladimir Volgaev from Ukraine, Mirelis Cabrera Diaz from Cuba, and Alek Nasreddin Kassir from Lebanon.
The Justice Department detailed that Volgaev had concealed his involvement in a scheme to smuggle over 1,000 firearm parts from the U.S. to other countries. Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate stated, “The U.S. provided Mr. Volgaev with support and citizenship, but he repaid that trust with malicious actions, including defrauding a federal agency. Such behavior will not be rewarded with U.S. citizenship.” In fact, Volgaev was found guilty of smuggling goods from the U.S. and theft of government property in 2020 after obtaining his citizenship in January 2016.
Meanwhile, Cabrera-Diaz, who resides in Hialeah, Florida, was denaturalized due to her fraudulent acquisition of citizenship linked to a healthcare fraud conspiracy prior to her naturalization.
In 2019, Cabrera-Diaz, then 42, was convicted for conspiracy to commit health care fraud in the Southern District of Florida. She admitted guilt, received a sentence of 29 months in prison, and was ordered to repay over $6 million. Her admissions revealed that from August 2011 to March 2014, she conspired to commit health care fraud by directing kickbacks to patient recruiters for false prescriptions.
Additionally, the Department announced an ongoing lawsuit against Kassir, a Miami resident, who allegedly lied on his naturalization application about living with his U.S. citizen spouse for three years before applying in March 2010.
Kassir pled guilty to passport fraud in November 2018, acknowledging that he was not genuinely married to, nor living with, his spouse, who claimed to be a U.S. citizen; they had actually separated back in 2009.
