A Maryland man who lied about his criminal past as a child sex offender in order to fraudulently obtain American citizenship was officially stripped of his immigration status, the Department of Justice announced Tuesday.
Salvadoran immigrant Jorge Antonio Graciano Lara raped his stepdaughter, who was younger than 14 years old at the time, on “several occasions” between 2012 and 2016 at their home in Montgomery County, Maryland, while the child’s mother went to work, according to court documents. Graciano Lara was granted citizenship in 2015 after lying about his crimes on his naturalization application and in an interview with a federal official.
Graciano Lara threatened the young victim against speaking out, saying that if she disclosed the abuse, the family would be separated and have to return to El Salvador.
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“American citizenship is a sacred privilege that this monster should never have obtained,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement Tuesday.
“This Department of Justice will continue working to denaturalize criminals like these who lie about their past actions to take advantage of our immigration system,” Bondi added.
Graciano Lara was convicted of second-degree rape in September 2017 after admitting to his crime as part of a plea deal.
In November 2024, the feds sued to take away Graciano Lara’s citizenship. A federal judge in Maryland officially granted the DOJ’s request to revoke Graciano Lara’s citizenship in a Monday order.
(Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Graciano Lara came to the United States in 1991 and received his green card in 1997, according to court documents.
The Salvadoran immigrant’s case is part of a larger effort by the Trump administration to audit the immigration system.
The Trump administration’s Department of Justice in July directed U.S. attorneys to “prioritize” and “pursue” denaturalization proceedings for new citizens who may “pose a potential danger to national security.”
“Sex offenders who try to naturalize by hiding their unlawful acts from immigration officials must learn that if the United States finds out, the government will come after their citizenship,” Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division said of the judge’s latest decision.
