Federal prosecutors in San Diego have filed a civil lawsuit to revoke the U.S. citizenship of Erwin Roberto Galindo, a man who allegedly hid a history of horrific child abuse during his naturalization process. The complaint, filed by the U.S. Department of Justice on January 30, 2026, argues that Galindo’s citizenship was “illegally procured” because he lied about his criminal past to immigration officials.
“This Department of Justice will continue to strip citizenship from those who commit heinous crimes and conceal them during the naturalization process,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement. “American citizenship is a great and sacred privilege that must be earned honestly,” she continued.
The legal move follows a 2016 conviction in California where Galindo was sentenced to nearly nine years in state prison.
According to court documents, Galindo pleaded guilty to lewd acts involving two different minors. One victim was an 11-year-old girl he lived with in the late 1990s, while the other was his own 14-year-old daughter, whom he reportedly raped and threatened with deportation in 2009.
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Despite these crimes, Galindo applied for citizenship in 2014. During his interview with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, he reportedly swore under oath that he had never committed a crime for which he had not been arrested. Since he had not yet been caught for the abuse at that time, he was granted citizenship in February 2015.
The government’s case is straightforward: to become a citizen, an applicant must prove they have “good moral character.” Federal attorneys argue that Galindo’s history of sexual violence and his subsequent perjury during the application process made him legally ineligible to ever become an American.
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“A monster who commits horrific acts of sexual abuse against children should not ever have become a U.S. citizen,” said Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “This Administration will not hesitate to take his citizenship back.”
If the court rules in favor of the government, Galindo’s certificate of naturalization will be canceled, and he will be stripped of all rights and privileges of U.S. citizenship.
This process, known as denaturalization, is often used by the Department of Justice in cases involving serious criminal concealment or human rights violations.
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