Chicago's Emmanuel Akinkunmi Faces Deportation for Fraud

Emmanuel Tayo Akinkunmi, a naturalized US citizen for 15 years, is facing deportation as per a legal filing in Illinois court dated October 7. The complaint alleges that Akinkunmi, born in Nigeria, unlawfully procured his citizenship by willfully misrepresenting and concealing material facts.

He was granted citizenship on June 8, 2011, after previously abandoning his green-card status in 1993 under the name Ezekiel Aremu Adetayo. He was ordered excluded from the US, a decision upheld by the Board of Immigration Appeals in 1997.

The government claims that Akinkunmi applied for a new green card under his current name, denying any previous identities or exclusions, which led to his citizenship application being approved in 2000. The lawsuit is part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to denaturalize individuals who allegedly obtained citizenship fraudulently, with 40 cases initiated as of early October.

Denaturalization is a complex process, and the US Supreme Court has previously limited the government's power to revoke citizenship.