Trump administration pushes DoJ to pursue denaturalization cases - report
The Guardian • • nation
Key Points:
- The Trump administration is urging the Justice Department to pursue denaturalization cases against hundreds of foreign-born Americans, with 384 individuals already identified for citizenship revocation in the coming weeks.
- Denaturalization occurs when individuals are found to have illegally obtained citizenship, often through fraud, false statements, or criminal activity, and the Justice Department's recent memo expanded categories for targeting such cases.
- This initiative, described by a Justice Department official as a "White House initiative," represents a significant increase compared to the roughly 120 denaturalizations between 2017 and late 2025, potentially requiring extensive manpower and diverting resources from other legal areas.
- Critics warn the broad criteria for denaturalization risk unjustly targeting immigrants, political activists, and others based on flimsy evidence, recalling a history of politically motivated denaturalization in the US during the 20th century.
- The effort follows an expansion of denaturalization under previous administrations, with the Trump administration notably intensifying investigations by reviewing hundreds of thousands of files.
