Afghani Woman Convicted of Lying to Obtain U.S. Citizenship, U.S. Passport

An Afghani woman has been found guilty of repeatedly lying to immigration officials in order to obtain U.S. citizenship, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Erin Nealy Cox.

Following a four day trial, a federal jury convicted Lilla Haiddar, 57, of two counts of false statement in applications for a passport and one count of unlawful procurement of naturalization.

According to evidence presented at trial, in May 2001, Ms. Haiddar –  who was then using the name “Marufa Khashim Surgul” and a different date of birth  – visited the U.S. Embassy in Tashkent, Uzbekistan and obtained a transit visa for herself and her two minor children that allowed them travel through New York City en route to Canada. 

However, on June 3, 2001, Ms. Haiddar, still using the Surgul identity, landed in New York and stayed, never boarding the outbound flight to Canada as scheduled.   

Two months later, in August 2001, Ms. Haiddar applied for asylum at the then Immigration and Naturalization Services (“INS”) asylum office in New York City. 

From that day forward, Ms. Haiddar used the Haiddar identity and date of birth to obtain asylum from an Immigration Judge, to obtain lawful permanent resident status from United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”), and then ultimately United States citizenship from USCIS in October 2011.  

During this ten year process, Ms. Haiddar, who would go on to become an employee of Prospect Airport Services at DFW International, never disclosed her Surgul identity, never disclosed she had received a transit visa to enter the U.S., and instead claimed she entered the U.S. by walking across the Texas/Mexico border.  

Five days after being naturalized as a U.S. citizen, Ms. Haiddar, still using the Haiddar identity and date of birth, applied for and obtained a U.S. passport.  In the passport application, Ms. Haiddar failed to disclose her Surgul identity. 

The U.S. Department of  State’s Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) uncovered the Surgul identity when the defendant sought to renew her passport three years early. (It was full due to her numerous trips to the Middle East and surrounding countries.) They also uncovered the fact that she’d originally traveled into the United States on the transit visa, but never left. 

Ms. Haddair faces up to 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $750,000. Sentencing is set for July 6, 2020 before U.S. District Judge Barbara M.G. Lynn.  Ms. Haiddar has been ordered detained pending sentencing.  

DSS conducted the criminal investigation.  United States Citizenship and Immigration Service and Immigration and Customs Enforcement with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security assisted.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Tiffany H. Eggers and Erica Hilliard are prosecuting the case.