Trump Administration Unleashes Mass Denaturalization Drive Under New Policy
The Trump administration is directing U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services field offices to refer an unprecedented number of denaturalization cases to the Department of Justice next fiscal year, according to internal directives.
New guidelines require USCIS to send 100 to 200 denaturalization cases per month to the Justice Department’s Office of Immigration Litigation in fiscal 2026—a goal that could result in more than 1,000 denaturalizations in a single year, far exceeding historical averages.
Denaturalization, the legal process by which the government revokes citizenship from naturalized Americans, has traditionally been rare. From 1990 through 2017, an average of about 11 cases were opened per year, and roughly 120 denaturalization cases have been investigated in the past eight years, according to Department of Justice data.
USCIS officials emphasize that the initiative targets individuals who fraudulently obtained U.S. citizenship through misrepresentation during the naturalization process. Under current U.S. law, denaturalization may occur only when citizenship was “illegally procured” or obtained through “willful misrepresentation of material facts.” The Supreme Court has held that citizenship is a constitutional right that cannot be revoked absent proof of fraud or illegal procurement at the time of naturalization.
Critics warn that imposing monthly quotas for denaturalization cases risks politicizing what has long been a narrowly used legal tool. “Requiring monthly targets 10 times higher than the total annual number of denaturalizations in recent years turns a serious and rare tool into a blunt instrument,” said Sarah Pierce, a former USCIS official.
Advocates for immigrant rights argue that the surge in denaturalization actions could sow fear among the nation’s 26 million naturalized citizens, who constitute about half of the foreign-born population. While denaturalization remains limited to fraud and similar cases, expanded enforcement may trigger broader anxieties in immigrant communities.
Legal experts note that denaturalization proceedings are complex, resource-intensive, and often take years to resolve. A federal court must ultimately rule on any effort to strip citizenship, and the burden of proof on the government is high. Critics warn that achieving the administration’s goals without substantial increases in investigative and legal resources could be difficult.
The move aligns with President Trump’s broader immigration agenda, which has included travel restrictions, efforts to curb both legal and illegal immigration, and a controversial pause on immigration applications from certain regions. Supporters of the policy argue that enforcing denaturalization against those who lied about their citizenship protects the integrity of the immigration system. However, the scale of the new targets represents a sharp departure from past practice, raising constitutional and civil liberties questions that are likely to face scrutiny in courts and Congress in the months ahead.
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer with over a decade covering news, media, and politics, reported on this development.
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