By Emilio T. Gonzalez (The Washington Times)
Victor Manuel Rocha is a traitor and a spy. He admitted it, and a U.S. federal court sentenced him. As a naturalized U.S. citizen, he must be denaturalized, or stripped of his U.S. citizenship.
Born in Colombia, Rocha emigrated to the U.S. as a child. Raised in modest surroundings in New York City, he nevertheless secured a scholarship to an elite boarding school, followed by degrees from Yale, Harvard and Georgetown.
After university, he was recruited by Cuban intelligence, who directed him to become a U.S. citizen and join the State Department. Intelligent, articulate and urbane, Rocha began a meteoric rise that would lead to a 22-year diplomatic career.
He served in Italy; as political counselor (the No. 3 position) at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico; as deputy chief of mission in the Dominican Republic; as deputy chief of mission and acting ambassador in Argentina; and finally as U.S. ambassador to Bolivia.
Along the way, he was posted to the National Security Council at the White House, followed by a posting as deputy chief of mission in Cuba. In both positions, as in all others, Rocha was under direct foreign control and had access to sensitive political, military and intelligence information that he happily relayed to his Cuban spymasters.
After retiring from the State Department, he enjoyed the life of a well-paid consultant and executive dealing with international affairs. In one of these positions, he maintained a regular travel schedule to China. With his lifetime diplomatic passport, he had access to Congress and even served as an adviser to the commander of U.S. Southern Command.
After his arrest by the FBI, unwilling to risk a trial with overwhelming evidence against him, Rocha pleaded guilty on April 12, 2024, after transferring extensive real estate assets to his wife. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison and a $500,000 fine and surrendered his State Department pension.
It was a slap on the wrist. Other Cuban spies captured in the United States have served much longer terms, and he should as well.
Victor Manuel Rocha is the most consequential traitor and spy since Benedict Arnold. For more than 40 years, in and out of government, he spied for communist Cuba, violated the law and his citizenship oath, and abused the special trust and confidence his adopted nation placed in him.
He must be denaturalized.
Citizenship is a grace, not an entitlement. Denaturalization, the legal process of revoking citizenship from naturalized citizens, is a tool our legal system allows to right a wrong. It is corrective, not punitive.
When our immigration system is compromised through fraud, concealing war crimes, misrepresenting identity, supporting terrorism, espionage, sexual abuse or another major offense, naturalization becomes void. Denaturalization becomes the proper remedy to restore the integrity of our immigration system.
The Obama administration subverted the legal citizenship process by wanting to get to “yes” on every naturalization petition. The Biden administration unleashed millions of random and unvetted migrants, many of them criminals and gang members, into the U.S.
Now is the time to review past cases, conduct investigations, strip fraudsters, spies and criminals of U.S. citizenship and deport them.
Before the Trump administration, denaturalization was rare and usually dependent on high-profile cases. Since 2025, the Justice Department’s Civil Division has made denaturalization a priority enforcement area.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services leadership has directed field offices to refer 100 to 200 cases per month, potentially resulting in 2,400 denaturalization cases per year. There is no statute of limitations.
Citizenship demands good moral character and an oath of allegiance to the Constitution. Denaturalization is not easy and demands “clear, unequivocal and convincing” evidence of fraud or illegal procurement of citizenship. Cases proceed in federal civil court with later judicial review.
Yet difficulty or complexity cannot be grounds for allowing the abuse of our most valuable and cherished asset: citizenship.
On May 8, the Justice Department moved to denaturalize another 12 people. Victor Manuel Rocha was one of them.
Rocha is unique. He is a traitor, a spy and a naturalized U.S. citizen. He betrayed the country that made him and the Constitution that protected him, and which he swore to uphold.
The Department of Homeland Security is safeguarding our borders. Now, the Justice Department must safeguard our citizenship. Victor Manuel Rocha will be 88 when he completes his sentence. If he survives, he should be deported back to Colombia, Cuba or any other country that will welcome a traitor and a spy.
This article was made available to WMAL via The Washington Times.
