Who is Gurmeet Singh? Indian-origin man stripped of US citizenship on rape charges: What we know

The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Monday (local time) revoked the citizenship of Gurmeet Singh, a man of Indian origin convicted of rape.

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York issued a ruling revoking the naturalization of convicted rapist Gurmeet Singh, according to a statement from the Department of Justice.

Who is Gurmeet Singh?

Singh, who was born in India, came to the US in February 1992 on a visitor visa that allowed him to stay for up to six months. He remained in the country beyond the permitted period for several years before a family petition for an immigrant visa allowed him to become a permanent resident in June 2000.

What is the case of Gurmeet Singh?

Weeks before he applied for U.S. citizenship in May 2011, Singh, a taxi driver at the time, dropped off a female passenger who had fallen asleep on the way home to a location without witnesses. When the passenger awoke, she found Singh on her with a knife to her throat. He threatened her, bound and gagged her, blindfolded her, stripped her of her clothes and raped her. The victim then ran from the cabin and ran to someone on the street for help at dawn.

Singh, now 55, was convicted in 2014 of violently sexually assaulting a young female passenger when he drove her to her East Village apartment after picking her up in Williamsburg.

According to the Department of Justice, the accused concealed these acts throughout his naturalization proceedings, which resulted in him becoming a US citizen on October 19, 2011. After naturalization, Singh was convicted in New York of first-degree rape and second-degree kidnapping as a sexually motivated crime and sentenced to 20 years in prison.

He is currently serving his sentence at Shawangunk Correctional Facility, a maximum-security prison in Wallkill that also houses “Son of Sam” killer David Berkowitz, the New York Post reported.

Singh is scheduled to be released in February 2029, after which the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will decide whether he should be deported.

Brooklyn federal judge Nicholas Garaufis issued the order last week, giving Singh until Sept. 16 to surrender his citizenship documents, including his naturalization certificate and US passport.

What have US officials and lawyers said about Singh’s case?

Attorney General Todd Blanche said, “US citizenship is no shield for a criminal,” adding, “Gurmeet Singh, a convicted rapist from India, is no longer a US citizen. He covered up a rape and kidnapping during the naturalization process, and a federal court has now revoked his citizenship. We will continue this department of denaturalization until the end. Fraudulent citizenship will not protect criminals from justice.”

Assistant Attorney General Brett A Shumate of the Justice Department’s civil division said: “Singh illegally obtained the privileges of American citizenship by covering up horrific crimes.” Shumate added that the Department of Justice will continue to protect the integrity of the citizenship process and hold accountable those who cheat our immigration system.