CASE OF UNITED STATES V. BORGOÑO

Norma Borgoño is a 65-year-old Peru native who legally immigrated to the United States in 1989. She settled near the city of Miami as a single mother with two children and found work as a secretary. Borgoño took her oath of citizenship and became a United States citizen in 2007. From 2003 to 2009, Borgoño worked as an office manager for a company called Texon, which was owned by a man named Guillermo Oscar Mondino. During this time, Mondino came up with and executed a plan to defraud the Export-Import Bank of the United States, which is the government’s official export credit agency. While Mondino signed and submitted fraudulent paperwork on behalf of Texon to illegally obtain money, Borgoño, as the office manager, simply prepared the paperwork that he used in the fraudulent transactions. When the FBI investigated Mondino, they questioned Borgoño and she helped the FBI build their case against Mondino. Even though Borgoño assisted in the investigation and never personally profited from the $24 million fraud scheme that Mondino operated, Borgoño was federally charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States and conspiracy to commit mail fraud. She took a plea deal and was sentenced to house arrest, probation and $5,000 in restitution. Because Borgoño’s alleged criminal activity took place before she was a naturalized citizen, the federal government initiated a denaturalization action against Borgoño claiming that she did not have the requisite moral character to become a naturalized citizen in the first place. The government alleged that Borgoño lied on her citizenship application when she falsely answered “no” when asked if she had knowingly committed any crime.

ZERO TOLERANCE IMMIGRATION POLICY

Federal authorities admit and acknowledge that Borgoño was a “minimal participant” in the fraud scheme orchestrated and carried out by her boss, Mondino. Borgoño’s status as a minimal participant is confirmed by the government’s plea offer that she ultimately accepted. Even though it is agreed that her role, whatever it was, was quite small in this fraud action. The Trump administration has touted a zero-tolerance policy on everything related to immigration law since the president took office in 2017. Due to this approach, Borgoño now faces the prospect of being deported back to Peru 30+ years after she legally immigrated to the United States and raised her family here. She has no close family remaining in Peru and suffers from a genetic condition affecting her kidneys called Alport syndrome. Even through all of this, the federal government’s approach is not one of forgiveness or understanding. What once was mainly a mechanism to identify former Nazis and other war criminals who lied to cover their identities when immigrating to the United States, denaturalization has morphed into something much different.

DENATURALIZATION’S FIT INTO CIVIL LITIGATION

A denaturalization action has an interesting and perplexing fit in our court system. Denaturalization actions are not governed by criminal law or procedure as you might expect. Rather, denaturalization falls into the realm of civil litigation and civil procedure. Even though United States Attorneys have the discretion to file a case as criminal or civil in nature, government officials reportedly encourage federal prosecutors to initiate civil denaturalization actions if a criminal case is declined for prosecution. These officials named the “benefits” of civil proceedings as opposed to criminal actions, which include:

• Lower burden of proof in civil litigation,
• No statute of limitations,
• No right to a jury trial, and
• No right to appointed counsel.

These “benefits” for the government come at the price of due process for citizens. So, even though you may have gained your citizenship through the process of naturalization, it does not mean that your citizenship cannot be taken away. You could lose your citizenship without being proven guilty of any crime, without being given an attorney, nor the right to a jury trial under the current rules of denaturalization actions. Simply put, you can lose your citizenship without any real due process. If you have questions about the status of your citizenship or denaturalization law, then it is important to speak to an experienced denaturalization attorney.