The United States government, on Monday, filed a lawsuit seeking to revoke the citizenship of Ghanaian-born military officer, Nicholas Eshun, after he was dishonourably discharged from the U.S. Marine Corps over inappropriate sexual behaviour with a 14-year-old girl — later revealed as an undercover agent. 

According to the Department of Justice, Mr Eshun enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in October 2011, 10 months after arriving in the United States. He became a naturalised citizen in 2013 through the government statute that expedites American citizenship for individuals serving in the U.S. armed forces.

However, that came crashing down during an overseas deployment two years later when he was caught exchanging sex-related messages with a girl online, whom he thought was a 14-year-old girl, but was in fact an undercover officer with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, the DOJ said.

This led to Mr Eshun being tried in a military court, where he was eventually convicted of the charges against him and was dismissed from the Marine Corps four-and-a-half years into his mandatory five years of service.

Citing provisions that require American servicemembers to serve a mandatory five-year period to be eligible for military benefits, including citizenship, the DOJ has filed denaturalisation proceedings against the defendant in the District of Maryland to revoke his citizenship and deport him back to Ghana. 

“Today’s denaturalisation against Nicholas Eshun, a court-martialed sex offender, demonstrates the United States’ commitment to using every tool available under the law to pursue those who obtain their U.S. citizenship unlawfully,” assistant attorney general Brett Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division said. 

He added, “Thanks to the intrepid investigators of NCIS, we now know the danger this man poses to this country. He is no longer serving as a Marine. There is no lawful basis for him to keep the citizenship he secured as one.”

In his reaction, deputy attorney general Todd Blanche stated, “As alleged, this defendant betrayed the uniform, abused the trust of this. Under strong leadership, this Department is using every lawful tool to protect the American people and to ensure that citizenship is not a shield for criminals who never deserved it in the first place. If you commit heinous crimes, you will be held accountable. This is how we make America safe again.”