Jairo Javier Pedron Tellez, a 29-year-old Cuban, is among the targets of the largest denaturalization campaign in the history of the U.S. government, following the Department of Justice's civil lawsuit to revoke his citizenship on July 31 in the Southern District of Florida.
According to the official statement from the Department of Justice, the case is part of a group of 25 denaturalization lawsuits filed between July 20 and August 3, 2026, marking the largest coordinated action of its kind in the history of the Department.
Who is Jairo Javier Pedron Tellez and what is he accused of?
Jairo Javier Pedron Tellez, originally from Cuba, obtained U.S. citizenship without disclosing to immigration authorities that he had participated in a bank fraud scheme and aggravated identity theft before naturalizing.
Between April 2015 and September 2017, Pedron Tellez, along with several accomplices, unlawfully removed envelopes and packages from United States Postal Service mailboxes, extracted the checks contained within those shipments, altered them, and either cashed or deposited them into accounts under their control.
It is a practice known as "check washing."
This technique involves stealing checks from the mail, chemically removing the name of the payee and the original amount using solvents, and rewriting them to divert the money.
The total amount illicitly obtained by Pedron Tellez and his associates reached approximately $175,000.
The three causes of denaturalization
The Department of Justice bases its lawsuit on three arguments, all supported by the Immigration and Nationality Act:
Pedron Tellez obtained his citizenship illegally, as his previous criminal acts disqualified him from naturalization.
- He provided false testimony during the naturalization process.
- He/She obtained naturalization through false statements or the deliberate concealment of relevant facts.
Denaturalization is not automatic: it requires a federal demand and a court order, and the government must prove its case with "clear, convincing, and unequivocal" evidence before a court.
The largest campaign of denaturalization in history
Since January 20, 2025, the Department of Justice has filed 123 civil lawsuits for denaturalization, the highest number in recorded history.
Between 1990 and 2017, the DOJ filed only 305 cases in total, averaging 11 per year.
The Acting Attorney General, Todd Blanche, was straightforward in announcing the 25 most recent lawsuits:
"U.S. citizenship is one of the highest privileges of our nation and must be obtained legally and honestly. Today's presentations represent the largest coordinated effort of denaturalization in the history of the Department, but they are just the beginning."
The Deputy Attorney General Brett A. Shumate added that "each of these individuals committed offenses incompatible with U.S. citizenship," and that the Department is making progress "at a record pace" in these processes.
Cuba, under scrutiny in the immigration review
The case of Pedron Tellez is not the only one involving naturalized citizens of Cuban origin.
Yosmaikel Rodríguez Pérez is facing denaturalization and deportation due to a nearly $900,000 Medicare fraud for which he was sentenced to 19 months in prison.
Milagros Marileisis Acosta Torres has an open case for money laundering related to a fraud at the Miccosukee casino in Miami.
Cuba is also among the 19 countries classified as "high risk" in the massive review of naturalizations initiated by the Trump administration since December 2025, which implies enhanced scrutiny of the records of individuals originating from the island.
If the court accepts the government's petition, Pedron Tellez would lose his U.S. citizenship and would be subject to deportation proceedings.
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