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Couple convicted of stealing trade secrets for China loses US citizenship
Case reflects the Trump administration’s stated goal of ‘maximally pursuing’ denaturalisation wherever legally possible
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Khushboo Razdanin Washington
A federal judge has revoked the US citizenship of a naturalised married couple from China after their 2021 convictions for stealing sensitive medical trade secrets and sharing them with China, the US Department of Justice (DoJ) announced on Tuesday.
On March 30, federal Judge James E. Simmons Jr. of California’s Southern District ordered the denaturalisation of Li Chen and Yu Zhou, ruling their crimes showed a lack of the “good moral character” required for American citizenship.
Chen and Zhou had pleaded guilty in 2020 to conspiracy to commit theft of trade secrets and wire fraud, using the stolen technology for personal profit and to benefit the Chinese government, as per the DoJ release.
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The case reflects the DoJ’s stated goal of “maximally pursuing” denaturalisation wherever legally possible, under the second administration of US President Donald Trump.
Where past administrations largely targeted terrorists and human rights violators, the current approach explicitly broadens enforcement to include white-collar crimes like those committed by Chen and Zhou.
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“Gaining citizenship after committing serious crimes against the American people is an unacceptable abuse of our immigration system,” US Attorney General Pam Bondi said in the press release.
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