Federal Judge Denaturalizes Mexican Nati...

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Federal Judge Denaturalizes Mexican National

A longtime El Paso resident lost his U.S. citizenship on Thursday, and was placed into deportation proceedings, after an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) special agents revealed he provided false information on his naturalization application.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) worked with ICE in the case against Hector Venancio Castro-Vasquez, who was convicted in federal court of naturalization fraud, or unlawfully procuring U.S. citizenship, in October 2006.

On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone judicially denaturalized the 44-year-old Mexican native, and sentenced him to time served. ICE special agents arrested him in April 2006. Castro-Vasquez became a permanent resident in 1993, and a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2003. He is now pending deportation proceedings..

Castro was convicted of lying twice on his naturalization application. He answered "no" when asked if he had ever knowingly committed any crime for which he had not been arrested, when in fact he was known to assault his wife. He also lied when he answered "no" to never having given false testimony for the purpose of obtaining any immigration benefit. Read more at ice.gov

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