Feds seek to revoke citizenship

Former lieutenant in El Salvador army allegedly lied about role in massacre

In 1989, then-Vice President Dan Quayle called for the government of El Salvador to put Arnoldo Antonio Vasquez in jail for his part in the massacre of 10 civilians during that country’s bloody civil war.

Instead, Vasquez moved to Plano and became an American citizen.

Now, the U.S. government wants to send the 54-year-old back to El Salvador. On Friday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Texas in Sherman filed a civil case to revoke his citizenship.

“The first step in protecting our borders begins with enforcing our immigration laws,” acting U.S. Attorney Brit Featherston said. “Vasquez should never have been allowed in our country because of his reprehensible acts and his effort to conceal them.”

The acts that prompted the U.S. government’s actions occurred in September 1988 in San Sebastian, a village about 30 miles east of San Salvador. At the time, Vasquez was a lieutenant in El Salvador’s army. Along with other soldiers in that army’s Jilboa Battalion, Vasquez was told to detain civilians in the village who were deemed “subversive,” according to the indictment filed against him.

The commander of the unit ordered their execution. Vasquez complied and had explosives detonated near the prisoners. Any who survived the blast were killed, according to the court documents.

Word of the massacre got out, and about six months later, during a visit to El Salvador, Quayle pressed for the arrest of Vasquez and the other soldiers who took part. He was charged with murder and admitted taking part in the killings but said he was just following orders.

Vasquez was found not guilty by the Salvadorian court, the document said.

His arrest and first-degree murder charge would have barred him from becoming a U.S. citizen. But, U.S. officials said, Vasquez misrepresented his criminal history. In 1999, he was allowed to immigrate because his wife was the daughter of a U.S. citizen.

In 2005, Vasquez applied for naturalization. Federal prosecutors said he lied on the application. He “did not disclose his prior arrest and detention for the crime of first degree homicide for the murder of 10 residents of San Sebastian,” the court document states.

If his U.S. citizenship is revoked, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Sherman on Friday said it would seek to have Vasquez deported.

“This action to revoke his unlawfully obtained U.S. citizenship is the first step toward removing him from the United States,” Featherston said.