History
OSI's work was primarily focused on acts by Nazis abroad before and during World War II, and who subsequently entered, or seek to enter, the United States illegally or fraudulently. It then takes appropriate legal action seeking their exclusion, denaturalization (revocation of U.S. citizenship), and/or deportation. As of August 2005, OSI had successfully prosecuted 100 persons involved in Nazi war crimes. These persons have been denaturalized and/or been deported from the United States. Many had lived in the U.S. for decades and led unremarkable lives. For example, Adam Friedrich had lived in the U.S. since 1955 and been a citizen since 1962 before OSI found that he had been a member of the Waffen-SS assigned as a prison guard at the Gross-Rosen concentration camp. He was denaturalized in 2004 but died in 2006 before he could be deported.
The number of Nazis in the U.S. and world has dwindled rapidly through natural mortality. As such, the mission of the OSI shifted in its last years from focusing strictly on World War II criminals to seeking out and prosecuting war criminals from the conflicts in Bosnia, Serbia, Rwanda, and Darfur who have sought refuge by coming to the United States.
Read more about this topic: Office Of Special Investigations (United States Department Of Justice)
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