DOJ files to revoke US citizenship of Phoenix resident believed to be acting as leader of al-Qaida

The Department of Justice filed denaturalization actions on Friday against a Phoenix-area resident who allegedly killed two Iraqi police officers while acting as a leader of militant Islamist group al-Qaida.

Ali Yousif Ahmed Al-Nouri, 48, was requested for extradition by the Republic of Iraq in 2019 to face charges for the murders, which occurred in 2006, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

When Al-Nouri entered the United States in 2009, he did so on the claim that al-Qaida had attacked him and his family.

The DOJ has the power to revoke citizenship when it is achieved by lying about circumstances, as the U.S. determined in 2015 that he had.

“Individuals implicated in committing fraud, heinous crimes such as sexual abuse or expressing support for terrorism should never have been naturalized as United States citizens,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in an announcement. “Those who intentionally concealed their criminal histories or misrepresented themselves during the naturalization process will face the fullest effect of the law.”

Al-Nouri is one of a dozen people across the U.S. the DOJ had targeted for denaturalization.

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