Posted by Louie Gilot, El Paso Times on
The Army veteran who became a soldier with a fake birth certificate was ordered to be deported to Nigeria by an immigration judge Thursday in El Paso.
The Army veteran who became a soldier with a fake birth certificate was ordered to be deported to Nigeria by an immigration judge Thursday in El Paso.
Remilekun Davis, 26, a former second lieutenant in the U.S. Army, said he always thought he was a U.S. citizen because his birth certificate placed his birth in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Davis said he didn't know his birth certificate was fake.
But Davis also used another fake birth certificate, this one placing his birth in St. Louis, Mo., according to a March 2003 press release by the U.S. Attorney's office.
That day, Davis pleaded guilty to making a false statement on an application for a United States passport.
"At today's hearing, the government presented evidence proving that Davis ... claimed to have been born in St. Louis, Missouri, on June 11, 1979, a statement which Davis knew was false," the release read.
Davis' Missouri birth certificate bore the file number of the birth certificate of a 2-year-old girl, U.S. attorney officials said.
At that time, the government also found the Virgin Islands birth certificate.
At the time, officials did not know what country Davis was a citizen of, officials said.
Thursday, Immigration Judge William L. Abbott at the immigration detention center in El Paso ordered Davis deported to Nigeria at an undecided date.
In a phone interview after the hearing, Davis said that the government believed he was from Nigeria because of his name and "because I hang out with Nigerians."
But he couldn't be reached again to comment on the U.S. attorney's press release.
Davis must wait one year after the end of his probation to be able to apply for naturalization. He is allowed to apply for naturalization from outside the United States if he can show that he was an active-duty soldier, not a reservist, in time of war, lawyers said.
Louie Gilot may be reached at lgilot@elpasotimes.com; 546-6131.