U.S. moves to revoke citizenship of Mexican friar convicted of child abuse

The U.S. Department of Justice has filed a complaint to revoke the U.S. citizenship of a Mexican Capuchin Franciscan friar convicted in 2019 of sexually abusing minors while serving in Washington, D.C.

According to U.S. authorities , Urbano Vázquez Ortega, 53, obtained U.S. citizenship in 2017.

“Vázquez Ortega was convicted of multiple counts of second-degree child sexual abuse while employed as a priest at a Washington, D.C., church,” U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced in a press release.

“In 2019, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison. The United States filed a five-count complaint seeking to revoke his citizenship, alleging he committed these crimes before, during, and after his naturalization,” the text indicates.

Vázquez Ortega is one of 10 individuals facing the revocation of their citizenship after being convicted of various serious crimes, including the sexual abuse of minors, fraud, and drug trafficking.

4 charges of abuse in 2019 In August 2019, a jury in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia found Vázquez Ortega guilty of four counts of child sexual abuse involving two minors at the Shrine of the Sacred Heart Parish in northwest…