The US District Court docket has revoked the citizenship of Indian-origin man Gurmeet Singh, who fraudulently obtained naturalisation by concealing a rape and kidnapping conviction.
IMAGE: Gurmeet Singh was convicted of rape and kidnapping, receiving a 20-year jail sentence. {Photograph}: @AGToddBlanche/X
Key Factors
- US District Court docket revoked the naturalisation of Indian-origin man Gurmeet Singh.
- He hid these prison acts throughout his US citizenship software course of.
- Authorities emphasise that fraudulently obtained citizenship won’t defend criminals.
- The judgment sends a robust message in opposition to deceit in naturalisation proceedings.
The USA has revoked the citizenship of an Indian-origin man, who was convicted of rape.
The US District Court docket for the Japanese District of New York entered judgment revoking the naturalisation of convicted rapist Gurmeet Singh.
A local of India, Singh entered the US in February 1992 as a customer for a short lived interval to not exceed six months.
He then remained within the US with out authorisation for years till a family-based immigrant visa petition allowed him to turn out to be a everlasting resident in June 2000.
Why Gurmeet Singh’s Citizenship Was Revoked
Legal professional Common Todd Blanche mentioned Singh, a convicted rapist from India, is not a US citizen. He “hid a rape and kidnapping throughout the naturalisation course of, and a federal court docket has now revoked his citizenship”.
Blanche added that American citizenship isn’t a protect for criminals. “Fraudulently obtained citizenship won’t defend criminals from justice,” he mentioned.
Assistant Legal professional Common Brett Shumate of the Justice Division’s Civil Division mentioned Singh unlawfully obtained the privileges of US citizenship by concealing horrible prison acts.
“The court docket’s judgment, which requires the defendant to give up his wrongfully obtained citizenship, sends a robust message to those that receive citizenship by deceit, and demonstrates the administration’s resolve to pursue denaturalisation proceedings in all instances permitted by regulation and supported by the proof,” mentioned US Legal professional Joseph Nocella Jr for the Japanese District of New York.
Particulars Of The Crime And Concealment
In Could 2011 — mere weeks earlier than he filed his software to naturalise as a US citizen — Singh, a taxicab driver on the time, drove a feminine passenger who fell asleep throughout her experience dwelling.
When the passenger awoke, she discovered Singh on high of her with a knife in opposition to her throat. He threatened her, certain and gagged her, blindfolded her, eliminated her garments, and raped her. Afterwards, the sufferer escaped from the cab and ran to somebody within the streets at daybreak for assist.
Singh hid these acts all through his naturalisation proceedings, resulting in his turning into a US citizen in October 2011.
After naturalising, Singh was convicted in New York of rape within the First Diploma and Kidnapping within the Second Diploma as a Sexually Motivated Felony and sentenced to twenty years in jail.
The August 26 order revoking Singh’s naturalisation follows an earlier criticism of the Justice Division.
