US wants ex-mayor’s citizenship revoked over bigamy and identity fraud allegations

NEW YORK—The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a suit on Feb.18 seeking to revoke the citizenship of former North Miami Mayor Philippe Bien-Aimé. The suit alleges that Bien-Aimé used a new last name to conceal a prior deportation order when he applied to become a U.S. citizen, according to a federal complaint filed in South Florida.

Bien-Aimé “willfully misrepresented his identity and immigration history” to obtain citizenship, prosecutors said in the 13-page complaint filed in Florida Southern District Court. They said the man naturalized as Bien-Aimé is the same person previously ordered removed from the U.S. under the name Philippe Janvier. Court documents include fingerprint comparisons and Department of Homeland Security records linking the two identities.

The case, United States of America v. Bien-Aime, was filed before Judge K. Michael Moore, according to federal court records reviewed online. In the filings, prosecutors say an immigration judge ruled on July 31, 2000, that Janvier had entered the U.S. fraudulently by using a photo-switched passport. However, the government contends, there is no record that Janvier complied with that order.

Bien-Aimé had used the fraudulent passport, they said, because he was not eligible to obtain a visa as the spouse of a U.S. citizen since the marriage cited in his visa application was invalid. The complaint accuses him of bigamy, stating that a Haitian divorce certificate submitted during the immigration process was counterfeit.

A Port-au-Prince native, Bien-Aimé worked in the automobile industry for almost 20 years before joining political life. He served on the North Miami City Council as the District 3 Councilman and vice mayor, then was elected mayor of North Miami in 2019. After his mayoral tenure ended, he mounted an unsuccessful bid for the Miami-Dade County Commission. 

If the government prevails, the case could carry significant legal and political consequences since only U.S. citizens are allowed to vote and hold office. North Miami’s city code requires candidates to be qualified electors, meaning they must be U.S. citizens eligible to vote and registered at the time they qualify for office.

The Justice Department’s filing includes 20 exhibits, among them a prior removal order, an immigration hearing transcript, a naturalization application and the disputed divorce records. 

A federal summons was issued Wednesday, court records show.

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