The US Department of Justice (DOJ) is moving to strip the citizenship of a Pakistani-born doctor who is currently jailed for sexually exploiting a young girl. A denaturalisation case against Hassan Sherjil Khan was filed on Thursday. Khan, a former doctor, has been in prison since 2016.
DOJ Statement on the Case
Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate issued a strong statement regarding the case. "Naturalization and US citizenship will not protect sexual predators from the consequences of their horrific acts," Shumate said. He added: "If you fail to disclose serious crimes while seeking naturalization, the government will discover your lies and revoke your ill-gotten US citizenship."
Details of the Crime
Khan, now 38, applied for US citizenship in August 2012. Court records reveal that just months earlier, he had traveled from New York to London, where he engaged in sexual activity with a 15-year-old girl. Prosecutors said he had been grooming the victim since she was 11. He knew she was a minor and repeatedly forced her to send explicit images and participate in sexual acts over live video.
Arrest and Sentencing
Khan was arrested in September 2015, two years after becoming a US citizen. He later pleaded guilty to coercion and enticement of a minor. In 2016, he was sentenced to 17 years in prison. At the sentencing, the victim described the long-term harm caused by the abuse, including depression, hallucinations, and anorexia. She also said she had self-harmed, fallen behind in school, and been reduced to "a shadow of the person that I could have been."
Denaturalisation Efforts
The DOJ claims Khan should never have been granted citizenship because he "willfully misrepresented and concealed the criminal conduct" he was engaged in during the naturalisation process. Prosecutors also argue that he failed to meet the "good moral character" requirement. This case is part of a broader push by the Trump administration to pursue denaturalisation. A memo issued last June said authorities would "prioritize and maximally pursue denaturalization proceedings" against individuals convicted of serious offences, including sex crimes.
Rise in Denaturalisation Cases
According to officials, around 384 such cases have been filed in recent years, a sharp rise compared with previous decades. Between 1990 and 2018, only 305 cases were brought. DOJ spokesman Matthew Tragesser said: "The Department of Justice is laser-focused on rooting out criminal aliens defrauding the naturalization process."
