HUMSI — Human Security Initiative

Human Impact Project

A living database documenting reported immigration enforcement incidents and their human impact.

Minnesota man faces denaturalization for allegedly concealing criminal history during naturalization

May 8, 2026

Country of origin: Somalia

Minnesota man faces denaturalization for allegedly concealing criminal history during naturalization
Photo via justice.gov

The U.S. Department of Justice filed a civil complaint in federal court seeking to denaturalize Salah Osman Ahmed, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Minnesota. Ahmed was naturalized in August 2007, months before providing material support to al-Shabaab, a designated foreign terrorist organization. In 2009, he pleaded guilty to one count of providing material support to terrorists after admitting to attending secret meetings in Minneapolis in 2007, traveling to Somalia in December 2007 to help build a training camp, receiving weapons training including on PKM machine guns, and raising money from the Somali-American community. He served three years in prison and was granted relief from supervised release in 2022. The DOJ contends Ahmed was not genuinely attached to U.S. constitutional principles at the time of naturalization and must prove by clear and convincing evidence that his citizenship was not obtained through fraud or misrepresentation.

Timeline

May 8, 2026—Department of Justice announced filing of civil complaint seeking to denaturalize Ahmed
2022—Ahmed granted relief from supervised release
Jul 16, 2009—Ahmed pleaded guilty to one count of providing material support to terrorists
2009—Ahmed convicted and sentenced to three years in prison
Dec 2007—Ahmed traveled to Somalia and helped build al-Shabaab training camp, received weapons training
Aug 2007—Salah Osman Ahmed naturalized as U.S. citizen
Suggest a correction, comment, or update

Sources

Related incidents