Trump administration moves to strip U.S. citizenship from Cuban American from Miami

The Trump administration announced Monday it is moving to strip U.S. citizenship from a Cuban American man from South Florida convicted of committing Medicare fraud to the tune of nearly a million dollars.

Read more Trump administration moves to strip U.S. citizenship from Cuban American from Miami

The Department of Justice said in a statement Monday that officials are pursuing a four-count denaturalization case for Yosmaikel Rodriguez Perez, a 45-year-old man from Miami-Dade County who became a green card holder in 2004 and a U.S. citizen in 2018. The agency said that he had hidden his criminal behavior when he applied for U.S. citizenship.

Rodriguez Perez was previously convicted on conspiracy to commit healthcare and wire fraud charges because he submitted fraudulent claims to Medicare in excess of $886,694.

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“The complaint alleges that Rodriguez Perez illegally procured his citizenship because he lacked the good moral character required for naturalization given his crime of moral turpitude, unlawful acts, and false testimony under oath during the naturalization process; and because he procured U.S. citizenship through the concealment of material facts and willful misrepresentations,” the Justice Department statement says.

Rodriguez Perez is at least the sixth person who has faced denaturalization in Miami this year.

Others include Victor Perez Rocha, the former U.S. ambassador serving 15 years in prison for being a Cuban intelligence agent; and Philippe Bien-Aime, the Port-au-Prince-born former mayor of the city of North Miami, whom the U.S. government accused of using fake names and documents to become a citizen.

As part of its mass deportation agenda, the Department of Justice under Trump has been directed to prioritize denaturalizations. A July 2025 memo says it will focus on people who have committed war crimes, extrajudicial killings, terrorist acts, or who did not disclose crimes during their naturalization process. Authorities also plan to focus on the generally uncharted waters of pursuing denaturalization against people who committed crimes after becoming citizens.

Historically, the U.S. government’s pursuit of denaturalizations has been extremely rare. Data from Syracuse University researchers at TRAC shows that between January 2008 and April 2026, the U.S. government pursued 34 denaturalization cases. Between May and July alone, the Trump administration has pursued over 30.

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“We refuse to give a free pass to criminals who cheated their way into American citizenship,” said Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division and the official who issued the July 2025 memo. “We’ve only scratched the surface — many more complaints are coming.”

Experts have said that the average citizen without criminal charges and convictions should not worry about the turbocharged denaturalization efforts, though they have created fear and anxiety in places like Miami-Dade County, where half the population is foreign-born.

The legal complaint outlining the denaturalization case against Rodriguez Perez is not public on federal online records. However, available records show that the evidence submitted by the prosecution includes his green card and naturalization applications, as well as his original indictment. Miami U.S. District Judge K. Michael Moore is presiding over the case.

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The original criminal complaint that is the basis of the denaturalization case was filed in 2019. Two women were also charged along with Rodriguez Perez. The complaint says that the three were operators at a medical center and that between April 2014 and August 2016 had worked with pharmacy owners so they would refer Medicare beneficiaries in exchange for kickbacks. The complaint also says that they sold medically unnecessary prescriptions, created fraudulent bills, and forged documentation.

Court records show that Rodriguez Perez entered a plea agreement and the government dismissed a healthcare fraud felony charge. He was sentenced to 19 months in prison and 3 years of supervised release. He also had to pay the $886,649 back to the government.

Between May 1 and June 12, the Trump administration pursued 28 denaturalization cases. Among them, one was for securities fraud, another for marriage fraud, four for child molestation, six for false identity and immigration fraud, and two for narcotics distribution.

On Monday, the Department of Justice also announced a total of 10 new denaturalization cases have been filed nationwide. That includes against a Mexican man convicted of grand theft, a Mexican priest who abused children, a Peruvian man who molested his minor stepdaughter, and a Pakistani national who used fake identities to obtain immigration benefits.

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This story was originally published July 20, 2026 at 5:47 PM.