[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1201 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1201

     To posthumously revoke the naturalization of Eriberto Mederos.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 11, 2003

Ms. Ros-Lehtinen (for herself, Mr. Lincoln Diaz-Balart of Florida, Mr. 
 Foley, Mr. Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida, Mr. Smith of New Jersey, Mr. 
Wexler, Mr. Tancredo, Mr. Burton of Indiana, and Mr. Engel) introduced 
    the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the 
                               Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To posthumously revoke the naturalization of Eriberto Mederos.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

     This Act may be cited as the ``Cuban Victims of Torture Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

     The Congress finds as follows:
            (1) Eriberto Mederos, a native of Cuba, was naturalized as 
        a citizen of the United States in 1993.
            (2) On August 1, 2002, the jury returned a guilty verdict 
        in a proceeding instituted for the purpose of revoking the 
        order admitting Eriberto Mederos to citizenship on the ground 
        that such order was procured by concealment of material facts 
        and willful misrepresentations.
            (3) For almost two weeks preceding the verdict, the jury 
        heard gruesome testimony from a series of witnesses revealing 
        that, in the forensic wings of the Mazorra Psychiatric Hospital 
        outside of Havana, Eriberto Mederos directed tortures against 
        political prisoners, such as dragging, administration of 
        electric shocks, and forced drug injections. He sometimes let 
        his victims know that the cause of their suffering was 
        ``counter-revolutionary'' opposition to the Communist 
        dictatorship in Cuba.
            (4) These acts of torture were not revealed on Eriberto 
        Mederos's application for naturalization.
            (5) On August 23, 2002, Eriberto Mederos died before a 
        sentence was imposed.
            (6) The jury verdict was abated solely because of his 
        death.
            (7) Had Eriberto Mederos not died before sentencing, the 
        guilty verdict of the jury would have led to the revocation of 
        his naturalization.
            (8) The significance of the jury verdict is in no way 
        depreciated by the fortuitous death of Eriberto Mederos. It 
        stands as an established record that Eriberto Mederos illegally 
        procured United States citizenship by concealing his role in 
        torturing political prisoners on behalf of the Communist 
        government of Cuba.
            (9) The suffering and indignity Eriberto Mederos inflicted 
        on his victims should be recognized and addressed.
            (10) Eriberto Mederos should never have been granted United 
        States citizenship.

SEC. 3. REVOCATION OF NATURALIZATION.

     The Attorney General shall take such actions as may be necessary 
to revoke and set aside the order admitting Eriberto Mederos to 
citizenship, and to cancel the certificate of naturalization that was 
issued pursuant to such order, on the ground that such order and 
certificate were procured by concealment of material facts and willful 
misrepresentations. Such revocation and setting aside of the order, and 
such canceling of the certificate of naturalization, shall be effective 
as of the original date of the order and certificate, respectively.
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