A Somali-born man who pledged himself to the terrorist group al-Shabaab just months after swearing an oath to the United States is now facing the revocation of his American citizenship, part of a sweeping Trump administration effort to denaturalize individuals with terror ties and fraudulent backgrounds.
Salah Osman Ahmed, 43, “began providing material support” to al-Shabaab shortly after becoming a U.S. citizen in 2007, according to the Justice Department. He eventually flew to Somalia to join the U.S.-designated terrorist organization and “fight and kill Ethiopians.” Ahmed pleaded guilty to providing material support to terrorists in 2009.
He’s one of 12 individuals targeted in denaturalization cases filed this week alone. Several are accused of connections to some of the world’s most dangerous terrorist organizations.
The Trump administration has secured 15 denaturalization orders as of April and filed 35 denaturalization complaints in total. For comparison, the federal government secured 54 denaturalizations across the entire Biden administration, according to the DOJ.
Among the most alarming cases is Khalid Ouazzani, 48, a Morocco-born man who prosecutors say “was planning, with two men later convicted of trying to bomb the New York Stock Exchange, ways to support Al-Qaeda” as early as 2003. That was roughly three years before he became a naturalized citizen.
In 2007, just one year after obtaining citizenship, Ouazzani allegedly “sent Al-Qaeda tens of thousands of dollars in financial support with money that he had fraudulently obtained.” The following year, “he took an oath of allegiance” to the terror group. He pleaded guilty to bank fraud, money laundering, and providing material support to Al-Qaeda in 2010.
Then there’s Ali Yousif Ahmed, 48, an Iraqi national who came to the United States in 2009 claiming he and his family were attacked by Al-Qaeda. The truth, according to the Justice Department, was far darker.
The Iraqi government contacted federal authorities in 2019, requesting Ahmed’s extradition to face criminal charges for the premeditated murder of two Iraqi police officers in 2006. Ahmed was accused of killing the officers while serving as an Al-Qaeda leader.
The Justice Department accused Ahmed of “illegally” obtaining American citizenship by lying “under oath about his criminal and family history.”
Under federal law, individuals can be denaturalized if they join a terrorist organization within five years of becoming a citizen. Authorities may also pursue denaturalization when citizenship was obtained through fraud or misrepresentation.
The crackdown is part of President Donald Trump’s “war on fraud.” U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is now “prioritizing those who’ve unlawfully obtained U.S. citizenship, especially under the previous administration” for denaturalization proceedings.
The scale of the effort is unprecedented. The Trump administration has ordered USCIS to pursue “100-200 denaturalization cases per month,” according to The New York Times.
For American families who have watched terror threats grow both abroad and at home, the administration’s aggressive posture represents a long-overdue reckoning. Citizens who obtained their status through lies, or who betrayed their oath to this nation by supporting enemies sworn to destroy it, are now facing consequences.
The message from the Justice Department is clear: American citizenship is a sacred trust, not a shield for terrorists.
