New York, NY, August 31, 2026: An India-born former New York City cab driver serving a 20-year prison sentence for kidnapping and raping a female passenger has been stripped of his U.S. citizenship after a federal court found that he concealed the crime during his naturalization process.
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York entered judgment revoking the naturalization of Gurmeet Singh, 55, the Justice Department announced Monday. The order was issued Aug. 26, nearly seven months after federal prosecutors filed a civil action seeking to denaturalize him.
Singh committed the rape in May 2011, just weeks before filing his application to become a U.S. citizen, according to the Justice Department. He was naturalized on Oct. 19, 2011, without disclosing the crime.
At the time of the assault, Singh was working as a taxicab driver in New York. Prosecutors said his female passenger fell asleep during the ride home and Singh drove her to a location where there were no witnesses.
When the woman awoke, Singh was on top of her with a knife against her throat, according to court records. He threatened her, bound and gagged her, blindfolded her and raped her. The woman subsequently escaped from the cab and sought help from someone on the street.
Singh was later arrested and, in 2014, convicted in New York of first-degree rape and second-degree kidnapping as a sexually motivated felony. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
The Justice Department argued that Singh was not legally eligible for naturalization because the crime occurred during the period in which applicants are required to demonstrate “good moral character.” The government also alleged that he concealed his criminal conduct throughout the naturalization process.
“Gurmeet Singh, a convicted rapist from India, is no longer a U.S. citizen,” Attorney General Todd Blanche said in announcing the court action. “He concealed a rape and kidnapping during the naturalization process, and a federal court has now revoked his citizenship.”
Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division said Singh had obtained the privileges of citizenship by concealing his criminal acts and said the department would continue pursuing cases involving fraud in the naturalization process.
Singh first entered the United States in February 1992 as a visitor authorized to remain for six months, according to the Justice Department. He remained in the country without authorization for several years before obtaining lawful permanent resident status in June 2000 through a family-based immigrant visa petition.
The Justice Department filed its denaturalization complaint against Singh on Feb. 2, 2026. The Aug. 26 judgment formally revoked his citizenship.
Singh remains incarcerated in New York. The loss of citizenship does not itself constitute a deportation order; any subsequent immigration proceedings would be handled separately by federal immigration authorities.
The case was prosecuted by Trial Attorney Christopher Lyerla of the Civil Division’s Office of Immigration Litigation and Assistant U.S. Attorney Layaliza Soloveichik for the Eastern District of New York.
