WASHINGTON - The Justice Department filed denaturalization actions against 25 naturalized citizens accused of concealing serious criminal histories — including attempted murder, aggravated child sexual assault, and spousal battery — in what officials called the largest coordinated effort to revoke fraudulently obtained citizenship in U.S. history.

The 25 complaints, filed in various U.S. district courts between July 20 and Aug. 3, bring the total number of civil denaturalization cases filed since Jan. 20, 2025, to 123, the most in recorded history. Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, citizenship may be revoked if naturalization was illegally procured or obtained through concealment of material facts or willful misrepresentation.

“U.S. citizenship is one of our nation’s highest privileges, and it must be obtained lawfully and honestly,” said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. “The complaints announced today allege that these individuals secured naturalization through fraud, concealment, or other unlawful conduct — including by concealing violent crimes, sexual offenses against children, fraudulent identities, and other disqualifying facts. Today’s filings represent the largest coordinated denaturalization effort in Department history, but they are only the beginning. The Justice Department will continue to use every tool available to protect the integrity of the naturalization process and the safety of the American people.”

“Today marks the largest denaturalization surge in recorded history,” said Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “Every one of these individuals committed crimes incompatible with U.S. citizenship. We are moving at record speed to denaturalize those who sought to deceive the federal government and abuse the naturalization process.”

Among the 25 defendants is Tatiana Power, 46, a Moldovan-born resident of Weston, Florida, who was convicted in 2022 of conspiracy to commit money laundering under 18 U.S.C. § 1956(h) for concealing proceeds from a business selling images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of children. Power entered the United States in 2005, naturalized in 2010, and admitted in criminal proceedings that she became involved in the enterprise before obtaining citizenship. The DOJ filed her case in the Southern District of Florida.

Another defendant, Zia Murad Bhatti, 59, a Pakistani national also known as Raza Moorad, illegally entered the United States in 1992 under a false name, was ordered removed, and never departed. He then married a U.S. citizen and sought permanent resident status under a different identity, concealing both his prior alias and his removal order during naturalization proceedings. His case was filed in the Eastern District of Arkansas.

The filings span at least six federal districts. Emigdio Sanchez, 62, a Mexican national in the District of South Carolina, pleaded guilty to assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature after beating his wife so severely on Aug. 16, 1998, that she was hospitalized — then wrote “no” on his naturalization paperwork when asked whether he had been arrested. Narinder Singh, 65, an Indian national in the District of Delaware, used two identities to gain admission beginning in 1996 and faces a seven-count complaint. Luisa Fernanda Ordonez, 54, a Colombian national in the Northern District of Georgia, paid a U.S. citizen to marry her in 2000 to procure permanent residence and later married another man without divorcing the first. Jonathan Omorogieva Obasohan, 56, a Nigerian national in the District of Massachusetts, obtained citizenship under a false identity after already being subject to a deportation order under his real name.

The cases will proceed through their respective U.S. district courts, where the government will seek orders revoking citizenship and canceling certificates of naturalization.