THE UNITED STATES has stripped Indian-origin man Gurmeet Singh of his citizenship after a federal court found that he concealed a rape and kidnapping during the process that made him a US citizen.
The US District Court for the Eastern District of New York entered judgment revoking the naturalization of Singh, who was later convicted of rape and kidnapping.
Attorney General Todd Blanche said Singh, a convicted rapist from India, is no longer a US citizen.
He “concealed a rape and kidnapping during the naturalisation process, and a federal court has now revoked his citizenship”.
Blanche said American citizenship is not a shield for criminals. “Fraudulently obtained citizenship will not protect criminals from justice,” he said.
Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division said Singh unlawfully obtained the privileges of US citizenship by concealing horrible criminal acts.
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“The court’s judgment, which requires the defendant to surrender his wrongfully obtained citizenship, sends a strong message to those who obtain citizenship through deceit, and demonstrates the administration’s resolve to pursue denaturalisation proceedings in all cases permitted by law and supported by the evidence,” said US Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr for the Eastern District of New York.
Singh, a native of India, entered the United States in February 1992 as a visitor for a temporary period not to exceed six months. He remained in the country without authorization for years until a family-based immigrant visa petition allowed him to become a permanent resident in June 2000.
In May 2011, mere weeks before he filed his application to naturalize as a US citizen, Singh was working as a taxicab driver when he drove a female passenger who fell asleep during her ride home.
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When she awoke, the passenger found Singh on top of her with a knife against her throat. He threatened her, bound and gagged her, blindfolded her, removed her clothes and raped her.
Afterward, the victim escaped from the cab and ran to someone in the streets at dawn for help.
Singh concealed the acts throughout his naturalization proceedings and became a US citizen in October 2011.
After naturalizing, Singh was convicted in New York of rape in the First Degree and Kidnapping in the Second Degree as a Sexually Motivated Felony and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
The August 26 order revoking Singh’s naturalization follows an earlier complaint by the Justice Department.
(With inputs from agencies)
A 1996 photo of rapper Tupac Shakur (L) and Marion "Suge" Knight is shown on screens during closing arguments in the Duane Davis murder trial, related to the 1996 killing of rapper Tupac Shakur, at Clark County District Court at the Regional Justice Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, on August 31, 2026. Getty Images
