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The United States has filed a civil action in the Eastern District of Texas against a 54-year-old Plano, Texas man accused of unlawfully procuring his U.S. citizenship, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Brit Featherston today.
Arnoldo Antonio Vasquez, a native of El Salvador, is alleged to have concealed and misrepresented his involvement in the extrajudicial killing of 10 civilians in San Sebastian, El Salvador, in September 1988, when he was an officer in the Salvadorian military. Vasquez was previously identified by then-Vice President Dan Quayle in a list of Salvadorian soldiers responsible for the killings. Vasquez concealed his involvement in the San Sebastian killings throughout his immigration and naturalization proceedings. Vasquez was naturalized as a U.S. citizen on Jan. 13, 2005.
“The first step in protecting our borders begins with enforcing our immigration laws,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Brit Featherston. “Vasquez should never have been allowed in our country because of his reprehensible acts and his effort to conceal them. He certainly should not have been granted U.S. citizenship. This action to revoke his unlawfully obtained U.S. citizenship is the first step toward removing him from the United States.”
Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, a naturalized U.S. citizen’s citizenship may be revoked and his certificate of naturalization canceled if the naturalization was illegally procured or procured by concealment of a material fact or by willful misrepresentation.
These matters were investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Division’s Office of Immigration Litigation District Court Section, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The litigation is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Robert Wells and Bradley Visosky of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Texas and Trial Attorney Anthony D. Bianco of the Office of Immigration Litigation, District Court Section.