The Department of Justice has filed a civil denaturalization complaint against Gurdev Singh Sohal, also known as Dev Singh and Boota Singh Sundu. Sohal became a U.S. citizen in 2005, despite being ordered deported in 1994 under the name Dev Singh. According to the Justice Department, Sohal used a new identity with different personal details to apply for naturalization and did not disclose his prior immigration history.
Expert analysis conducted in February 2020 confirmed that fingerprints submitted under both identities belonged to the same person. This analysis was possible after the Department of Homeland Security digitized older paper fingerprint records.
Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate stated, “If you lie to the government or hide your identity so that you can naturalize, this Administration will find you and strip you of your fraudulently acquired U.S. citizenship.”
The complaint alleges that Sohal was never lawfully admitted for permanent residence and made false statements throughout his naturalization process, making him ineligible for citizenship due to lack of good moral character. The Justice Department also charges him with procuring citizenship by concealing or misrepresenting his previous identity and immigration proceedings.
This is the ninth denaturalization action filed by the department since January 20. The case was investigated through the Historic Fingerprint Enrollment project, a joint initiative between the Justice Department and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
The prosecution is being handled by the Office of Immigration Litigation within the Justice Department’s Civil Division, with support from USCIS and assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington.
