Federal courts in North Texas, Minnesota denaturalize 5 Somali nationals

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Justice secured the denaturalization of two Somalis on Wednesday — one convicted of engaging in sexual contact with a minor, and the other fictitiously created a family to secure a Diversity Immigrant Visa, which concluded a concurrent case against three additional individuals.

These actions resulted from investigations by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Department of Justice, the Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

U.S. District Court Judge Joe Fish, Northern District of Texas, entered an order to revoke the U.S. citizenship of Emmanuel Olugbenga Omopariola.  In Minnesota, U.S. District Court Judge Susan Richard Nelson entered an order to revoke the U.S. citizenship of Fosia Abdi Adan.

Emmanuel Olugbenga Omopariola

The court found that before becoming a naturalized U.S. citizen, Omopariola, 61, engaged in sexual contact with a 7-year-old minor, a crime he later admitted to and for which he was convicted. This prior conduct rendered Omopariola ineligible to apply for U.S. citizenship because he did not show the moral conduct necessary for naturalization. Additionally, throughout his naturalization proceedings Omopariola misrepresented and hid his criminal behavior.

Fosia Abdi Adan

During litigation, Adan, 51, conceded that she had procured her U.S. citizenship by willful misrepresentation and concealment of material facts, including the fraudulent nature of her relationship to individuals she claimed to be her children. In light of that admission, the court found that Adan had unlawfully procured her U.S. citizenship.

Adan’s denaturalization marks the culmination of the government’s case against three additional individuals. Adan’s purported husband and two sons unlawfully, knowingly and fraudulently represented to immigration officials that they were a family in order to gain admission to the United States through the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program, which they later used to obtain U.S. citizenship. Judge Nelson entered orders revoking the naturalized U.S. citizenship of Adan’s purported husband, Ahmed Mohamed Warsame, aka Jama Solob Kayre, 53, on Feb. 27, 2018; and her purported sons, Mustaf Abdi Adan aka Mohamed Jama Solob, 33, and Faysal Jama Mire, aka Mobarak Jama Solob, 31, on March 19, 2018. All four individuals consented to the entry of orders of denaturalization.

“The current immigration system is too often abused by fraudsters and nefarious actors. These cases are prime examples of the unfortunate fraud that is all too common within our immigration system,” said Attorney General Jeff Sessions. “The Department will continue to investigate and prosecute others who conceal their heinous crimes, and those who seek to rely on fraudulent relationships to become naturalized United States citizens.”

"The integrity of our consular processes is a core element of U.S. national security,” said Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Carl Risch. “The Department of State works closely with the Justice Department efforts to detect, deter, and combat fraud related to U.S. travel documents. These denaturalizations demonstrate the value of this important interagency collaboration; a partnership that allows us to facilitate travel by qualified individuals in the context of ensuring a strong and secure U.S. border.”

The Omopariola matter was referred to the Department of Justice by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). The other four cases (United States v. Fosia Abdi Adan; United States v. Ahmed Mohamed Warsame; United States v. Mustaf Abdi Adan; and United States v. Faysal Jama Mire) were referred to the Department of Justice by the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) and ICE, with investigative support from HSI and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ (USCIS) Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate.

The Texas case was investigated by HSI and the Civil Division’s Office of Immigration Litigation, District Court Section (OIL-DCS). This case was handled by OIL-DCS’s National Security and Affirmative Litigation Unit and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas, with support from ICE’s Office of the Principal Legal Advisor.

The Minnesota cases were investigated by DSS, ICE, USCIS, and the OIL-DCS. These cases were prosecuted by Senior Litigation Counsel Anthony D. Bianco and Trial Attorney Kathryne M. Gray of OIL-DCS, with support from Senior Attorney Lucia A. Fiorentino and former Attorney Sarah Mazzie of ICE’s Office of the Principal Legal Advisor, and DSS.