An Ethiopian national had his U.S. citizenship revoked earlier this week and was sentenced to thirty-seven (37) months in prison for having fraudulently obtained U.S. citizenship.
Mergia Negussie Habteyes, 58, came to the United States in 1999 fteratelling a series of lies to U.S. immigration authorities. During his sworn naturalization interview, Habteyes falsely stated that he had never persecuted persons based on their political opinion. Based on these false representations, Habteyes was able to procure U.S. citizenship in 2008.
During his plea hearing in February 2019, Habteyes specifically admitted that he had participated in the persecution of detainees in Ethiopia on account of their political opinion during a period of time known as the “Red Terror.” From roughly 1977 to 1978, Habteyes admitted to having injured and permanently scarred detainees using belts, rods, and other objects.
“The conscious choice to become a citizen is a great pillar and a richly beautiful tradition of the United States,” said HSI SAC Lechleitner. “It is the highest and most egregious offense to this special fabric of our country to commit fraud in order to obtain that citizenship, but it is immeasurably deplorable for Negussie to have willfully concealed his participation in raw inhumanity.”
