Scientists Stripped Of U.S. Citizenship After Selling Trade Secrets To China
A federal judge in California has officially revoked the U.S. citizenship of two former research scientists who used their positions at an American hospital to steal medical trade secrets for profit.
On March 30, Judge James E. Simmons Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California issued the order against Li Chen and her husband, Yu Zhou, ruling that the couple illegally obtained their naturalization by concealing a history of criminal activity.
The couple, both Chinese nationals who originally came to the U.S. on high-skilled work visas, were previously convicted of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and the theft of trade secrets. According to court records, the duo leveraged their roles at Nationwide Children’s Hospital (NCH) to steal intellectual property related to exosome isolation.
They used these stolen secrets to pad their own pockets, founding a private company and receiving nearly $1.5 million in transactions, including funding from the Chinese government’s State Administration of Foreign Expert Affairs.
“Gaining citizenship after committing serious crimes against the American people is an unacceptable abuse of our immigration system,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “These latest denaturalizations illustrate this Department of Justice’s focus on ensuring that citizenship remains a privilege to obtain, not a right to abuse.”
The court’s decision hinged on the “good moral character” requirement necessary for any immigrant to become a U.S. citizen. Judge Simmons determined that because the couple’s crimes involved “moral turpitude” and occurred during the period they were seeking citizenship, they were never actually eligible to naturalize.
Chen, who became a citizen in 2016, and Zhou, who followed in 2017, were found to have committed “unlawful acts” that reflected so poorly on their character that their status had to be rescinded.
Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division emphasized the weight of the ruling. “Naturalization is not a right — it’s a privilege given by the generous people of this nation,” Shumate said. “When the generosity of America’s immigration process is abused, our system works to correct such abuse. Full stop.”
The timeline of the couple’s career in the U.S. shows a steady climb followed by a sharp criminal descent. Chen first entered the country in 2007 on an H-1B visa, later gaining permanent residency as an “alien of extraordinary ability.”
Zhou arrived on a similar visa in 2008. By 2019, however, their specialized research careers ended in handcuffs. Following their initial criminal trial, Chen was sentenced to 30 months in prison, while Zhou received 33 months. Together, they were ordered to pay more than $2.6 million in restitution.
The investigation into the couple was a multi-agency effort involving Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the ICE Office of the Principal Legal Advisor.
While the original criminal prosecutions took place in Ohio, the Civil Division’s Office of Immigration Litigation handled the move to strip them of their citizenship. With the judge’s order now finalized, the couple no longer holds the legal rights or protections afforded to U.S. citizens.