A Chicago man naturalized as a U.S. citizen 15 years ago faces being stripped of his citizenship and deported, a legal filing reviewed by Newsweek confirmed. The complaint, filed in Illinois court on October 7, alleges that Emmanuel Tayo Akinkunmi, who was born in Nigeria, “procured his naturalization unlawfully” and that he had “willfully misrepresented and concealed material facts in applying to naturalize.” The lawsuit details a number of claims about Akinkunmi’s pursuit of citizenship and attempts to immigrate to the U.S., including a number of identities he allegedly used. The U.S. government said in the lawsuit that Akinkunmi had taken the Oath of Allegiance and was admitted as a citizen on June 8, 2011.
Before that, under a different identity—allegedly Ezekiel Aremu Adetayo—he abandoned his green-card status in 1993. He was subsequently ordered excluded from the U.S. The Board of Immigration Appeals upheld the decision in 1997.
The government alleges that he then applied for a new green card under Akinkunmi, claimed he had used no other names, and denied having previously been excluded. That application was approved in 2000. Then, when applying for citizenship in 2010, he allegedly again denied using another identity and denied having been ordered excluded or deported.
The complaint alleges that Akinkunmi “was never lawfully admitted to the United States as a permanent resident” and that he sought admission and other benefits by “fraud” or “willfully misrepresenting a material fact.” The lawsuit comes as the Trump administration launched what U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche called the "largest denaturalization effort in modern history." Akinkunmi did not have a listed attorney as of reporting on Monday morning. Newsweek has reached out to the attorney representing the U.S. in the lawsuit for comment via email.
President Donald Trump promised a crackdown on illegal immigration upon his return to the White House in January 2025, but his administration has also looked at those who entered the U.S. legally, with multiple reports detailing detainment at interviews for green cards and citizenships. In April, The Trump administration told Newsweek that it planned to drastically increase the number of denaturalizations. As of early October, the Trump administration launched an effort to strip 40 naturalized Americans of their U.S. citizenship.
The Justice Department said that they obtained citizenship illegally or fraudulently. The cases span a range of alleged misconduct, from fraudulent marriages to immigration and identity fraud. The defendants vary in age from 26 to 76 and are from 20 countries.
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