PHOENIX (AZFamily) — The Department of Justice is moving to denaturalize a dozen people accused of serious crimes, including a man who lived in Phoenix.
On Friday, federal prosecutors filed a complaint in Phoenix against 48-year-old Ali Yousif Ahmed Al-Nouri, a native of Iraq.
The DOJ said Ahmed came to the United States in 2009. He allegedly claimed he and his family were attacked by Al-Qaeda terrorists in Iraq.
However, in 2019, Iraq reportedly asked the U.S. to send Ahmed back to face murder charges. Iraqi officials say Ahmed killed two police officers in 2006 as a leader in Al-Qaeda, according to the DOJ. The group allegedly killed a police lieutenant on June 1, 2006, and another officer on Oct. 3, 2006.
Ahmed was arrested in 2020 on the extradition request.
Federal investigators say Ahmed lied under oath about his criminal history and family background when he entered the U.S. and became a citizen in 2015.
What is denaturalization?
Federal law allows the government to cancel citizenship if someone lied or hid important facts during the naturalization process.
“Individuals implicated in committing fraud, heinous crimes such as sexual abuse, or expressing support for terrorism should never have been naturalized as United States citizens,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said.
Blanche said the Trump administration is taking action to correct violations of the immigration system. Those who hid their criminal histories during naturalization will face the fullest extent of the law, he said.
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