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Indian-origin taxi driver loses US citizenship 15 years after conviction in rape case: ‘Not a shield for criminals’
US attorney general Todd Blanche said in a statement that Gurmeet Singh, who was convicted of rape and was born in India, no longer holds US citizenship.
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The United States on Monday revoked the citizenship of Gurmeet Singh, an India-born taxi driver who was sentenced to 20 years in prison for kidnapping and sexually assaulting a woman at knifepoint in 2011, the justice department said in a release.
The US district court for the eastern district of New York issued an order cancelling the naturalisation of convicted rapist Gurmeet Singh.
Notably, citizenship can be revoked through denaturalisation only after a federal court issues a ruling. The process is complex and is generally used when a person has misled authorities to secure citizenship or has committed serious crimes.
Who is Gurmeet Singh?
Singh entered the United States in February 1992 on a temporary visit that was supposed to last no more than six months. He stayed in the country without authorisation for several years before a family-based immigrant visa petition allowed him to become a permanent resident in June 2000.
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In May 2011, just weeks before submitting his application for US citizenship, Singh was working as a taxi driver when he took a female passenger, who had fallen asleep on her way home, to a place where there were no witnesses.
When the woman woke up, she found Singh on top of her with a knife held to her throat. He threatened her, tied her up, gagged and blindfolded her, took off her clothes and raped her, according to the release.
The survivor later managed to get out of the taxi and, at dawn, ran to someone on the street to seek help.
Singh kept the crimes hidden during the naturalisation process and became a US citizen on October 19, 2011, it said.
After obtaining citizenship, Singh was convicted in New York of rape in the first degree and kidnapping in the second degree as a sexually motivated felony. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
‘American citizenship not a shield for criminals’: US attorney general
US attorney general Todd Blanche said in a statement that Singh was convicted of rape and was born in India, adding that he no longer holds US citizenship.
“American citizenship is not a shield for criminals…He concealed a rape and kidnapping during the naturalization process, and a federal court has now revoked his citizenship,” he said.
Assistant attorney general Brett Shumate of the justice department's civil division said Singh had wrongfully secured the benefits of US citizenship by hiding serious criminal acts.
The order revoking Singh's naturalisation came after the justice department had earlier filed a complaint.
