The Cuban Orlando Chávez, a convicted child abuser, was found guilty of naturalization fraud by a federal jury in Miami and will lose his U.S. citizenship for having obtained it illegally.
On September 11, Chávez, 43 years old, was found guilty of naturalization fraud and of using a fraudulently obtained naturalization certificate, following a two-day trial in which testimonies and evidence were presented demonstrating that he was born in Cuba and his process of obtaining citizenship.
According to a statement issued by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida, Chávez submitted the naturalization application to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on July 14, 2017.
In their application, and under oath, they "falsely responded 'No' to two questions: 'Have you ever been involved in any way with any of the following: forcing or trying to force someone to engage in any type of sexual conduct or relationship?'; and 'Have you ever committed, helped to commit, or tried to commit a crime or offense for which you were not arrested?'".
On April 19, 2018, during an interview with a USCIS officer, the Cuban gave the same answers to those two questions while being "under oath and penalty of perjury."
A few days later, in a ceremony held on April 30, Chávez took the Oath of Allegiance and became a naturalized citizen of the United States.
In May, he presented his naturalization certificate -obtained fraudulently- as proof of American citizenship to apply for a passport from the Department of State.
The Southern District of Florida Prosecutor's Office stated that in 2018, after becoming a naturalized citizen, Chávez was arrested and charged with two counts of child abuse against a victim under 12 years old, committed between January 1 and December 31, 2014.
A court found him guilty of those crimes in 2019 and he was sentenced to 14 months in prison and five years of probation, in addition to being ordered to attend a treatment program for sex offenders.
The U.S. District Judge, Roy Altman, will issue a sentence against Chávez in a hearing scheduled for January 8th. In addition to the conviction, his citizenship will be automatically revoked.
Although the prosecution did not specify, Chávez could be the same individual who was arrested in Hialeah in August 2018 accused of having raped his own daughter, seven years old, on at least two occasions.
The press reports on the case indicated that the victim, who was 11 years old at the time, stated that Chávez, her biological father, sexually abused her when she was seven.
The fraud case for which the Cuban has been charged was presented by the Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) division of ICE in Miami, as part of "Operation False Haven," a national initiative aimed at "identifying and prosecuting child abusers and other atrocious criminals who obtained U.S. citizenship fraudulently."
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