Revoking an Immigrant's Citizenship has proven to be a Costly and Controversial Practice over the years, but the Trump (R) Administration says Hundreds of People deserve to have their Citizenship Stripped Anyway. The Plan calls for Ramping Up the previously Rare Denaturalization Process as a Part of a Broader Immigration Enforcement Agenda, Expanding a Practice Trump started in His First Term.
So far, the Justice Department (DOJ) has moved to Revoke the Citizenship of nearly 90 People since the Start of 2025. By 11/2026, the Government is aiming to File at least 250 Denaturalization Cases in Federal Court. Under current Federal Law, the Government can Ask a Judge to Revoke the Citizenship of someone who Obtained it through Fraud or Misrepresentation, such as using a False Identity or Concealing a Disqualifying Criminal Record during the Naturalization Process.
At its Current Rate, the Administration is on pace to Pursue more Denaturalization Cases than any other in recent Modern American History. By Comparison, the Biden (D) Administration brought 24 Cases over Four years, while the Government filed 102 Denaturalization Cases during Trump's First Term, according to the DOJ. “This is a major increase that we haven’t seen in decades,” said Cassandra Robertson, a Professor of Law at Case Western Reserve University and an Expert on Denaturalization.
The Trump Administration says it is Targeting Criminals and Fraudsters who should Not have become Citizens in the First place, and framed the Campaign as an effort to Preserve the Integrity of the Naturalization Process. "When you commit fraud during the naturalization process, you forfeit the right to keep your U.S. citizenship," Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin (R) said in a Recent Statement. “DHS is committed to ensuring we denaturalize and remove these fraudsters with every tool at our disposal.”
For Decades, the Government only Pursued a Handful of Denaturalization Cases each year, in part because they require Significant Resources, are Expensive and can take years to Resolve. The Cases Prosecutors did Pursue largely Targeted National Security Threats, Affiliates of Terror Groups and Suspected War Criminals. But since Trump Returned to Office, His Administration has Moved to Expand the use of Denaturalization. The DOJ's Civil Division has been Ordered to Prioritize Denaturalization, and Agency Leaders have Enlisted the Help of U.S. Attorney’s Offices Nationwide to Boost Case Numbers. In a Post on X on 7/20/2026, the White House described the Campaign as the "Largest Denaturalization Effort Ever."
Former DOJ Attorneys and Immigration Law Experts said the Cases being Pursued under Trump, largely don't appear out of step with previous Administrations. But they expressed Concerns that the effort could Divert Resources from other Priorities like Prosecuting Fraud or Corruption Cases. Some blasted the effort as a Tactic meant to Intimidate the Country's more than 26 million Naturalized Citizens. "I don't think this will make any dent in the administration's deportation goals," said Stacey Young, a former DOJ Lawyer, describing the Denaturalization Process as Slow-Moving and, to a certain degree, Unscalable. "I think it does send a message that naturalized citizenship is impermanent and precarious."
The DOJ issued a Memo directing the Agency's Civil Division, which Primarily handles Denaturalization Cases, to "prioritize and maximally pursue denaturalization proceedings.” As of 7/2/2026, the Justice Department (DOJ) has Filed at least 89 Denaturalization Cases in Federal Court, nearly Four Times as many as were Pursued during Biden's (D) Term in Office.
Of the Cases filed under Trump, the Government has Won at least 19. And while most Cases were handled by the DOJ's Civil Division, a Significant Portion have been taken up by U.S. Attorney's Offices across the Country, a Shift in Procedure that Experts say Highlights how the Government is Diverting Resources to try to Strip more People of their U.S. Citizenship than ever before.
"Occasionally the civil division would partner with U.S. attorneys' offices, but that was rare," said Young, who worked in the DOJ's Civil Division from 2006 to 2019 under the Bush (R), Obama (D) and First Trump Administrations. "I don't remember any cases being handled exclusively by U.S. attorneys' offices." Many of the Pending Cases involve Allegations that the Defendant Lied or Omitted Details about their previous Conduct that would have made them Ineligible for U.S. Citizenship.
In most Cases, the DOJ cited Criminal Convictions on Serious Charges such as Sexual Abuse, Wire Fraud, and Drug Distribution. Others involve Allegations that the Defendant used a Fake Name during the Naturalization Process. In Multiple Cases, the Government Accused Defendants of Participating in War Crimes or Supporting Foreign Terrorist Organizations such as Al-Qaeda and al-Shabaab.
Immigration Experts and former DOJ Lawyers said the Government’s Allegations so far don’t Appear Out of the Ordinary but Noted the Surge in Cases Overall, the Rresult of more Resources being Dedicated to Pursuing Denaturalization. “On first blush, these cases don’t look all that different from cases that have been brought by previous administrations,” said Daniel Kanstroom, a Law Professor at Boston College who Specializes in Immigration.
He added that the DOJ appears to be Targeting People who pleaded Guilty to Crimes committed before or during the Naturalization Process. This Group, according to the Government, should have been Denied Citizenship in the First Place, as they did Not Meet the "good moral character" Requirement. Between 1990 and 2017, an average of 11 Denaturalization Cases were Filed per year, according to the Migration Policy Institute. The Low Number can largely be traced back to a 1967 Ruling by the Supreme Court, that says the Government can only Revoke Citizenship in the Case of Fraud or “willful misrepresentation.”
That decision followed a Cold War effort to denaturalize those who the government perceived as political enemies, including labor leaders, journalists or critics of the government accused of being communists, said Amanda Frost, a University of Virginia law professor and immigration attorney. Through the two world wars and into the 1950s, some 22,000 immigrants saw their U.S. citizenship revoked, Frost said.
In the decades that followed, the government limited its prosecutions, focusing mainly on national security threats or people with ties to foreign terrorist groups. “Republican and Democratic administrations post the Supreme Court decision understood the message of that case and understood that denaturalization was to be used sparingly and was not supposed to be a bread-and-butter tool of immigration enforcement,” Frost said.
Denaturalization cases did tick up under former President Barack Obama. At the time, new digital fingerprinting technology revealed that hundreds of people who had previously been ordered deported successfully naturalized using different identities. The Obama administration began a review aiming to denaturalize any citizen with ties to foreign terrorist organizations.
When Trump took office in 2016, his administration widened the program and broadened the scope of cases to include non-terror crimes such as fraud and violent offenses. The administration also set quotas. Then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions ordered the investigation of 700,000 naturalized citizens, with a goal of bringing some 1,600 cases to court.
While those goals weren’t ultimately met, the number of denaturalization cases brought by the DOJ jumped to an estimated 168 over four years, far outpacing the Obama and Bush administrations. Denaturalization cases are long, costly and difficult to win
Among the reasons only a handful of denaturalization cases were pursued in previous decades is that they can take years to resolve and demand significant resources.
“It’s a cumbersome process,” said Young, the former litigator and founder of Justice Connection. “There’s tons of evidence, intensive discovery and cases often go to trial or go up on appeal.” The Trump administration’s denaturalization push comes as the Justice Department grapples with an exodus of government lawyers and a historic caseload stemming from legal challenges to the White House’s deportation campaign.
“They’re overwhelmed,” Young said of federal attorneys nationwide, adding that the denaturalization push could pull prosecutors away from critical work, such as litigating cases involving health care fraud, environmental crimes, corruption or national security violations. And even when a judge sides with the government, that doesn’t always lead to deportation. Instead, defendants revert to their previous status, which is often a lawful permanent resident with the right to due process and a hearing before an immigration judge. “To remove them you have to go through a whole separate process,” Young said.
Nevertheless, the Trump administration is set on pursuing as many cases as possible. Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate said on July 20 that the federal government has “only scratched the surface” and promised “many more complaints are coming.” “We refuse to give a free pass to criminals who cheated their way into American citizenship,” Shumate said. “Under this administration, if you defrauded the naturalization process, you will face the full force of the Justice Department.”
A DOJ memo published in 2025 expands what denaturalization cases should be prioritized. Some of the new language called for focus on individuals tied to “drug cartels,” and suspects of “fraud against private individuals, funds, or corporations.” One section of the memo directs staff to prioritize cases the civil division “determines to be sufficiently important to pursue.”
Critics fear that could open the door to prosecutions targeting the administration's perceived political enemies or specific minority groups, especially given Trump's threats to remove some of his adversaries from the country. Young, who worked in the DOJ for nearly 20 years, said the memo’s language suggests the division will “target anyone for denaturalization it wants, whenever it chooses – regardless of whether a person poses a threat to the public, or engaged in egregious past conduct.”
Trump has repeatedly suggested that U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minnesota, should be removed from the country. In an interview with the New York Times in January, he said his administration was examining criteria for taking away U.S. citizenships with a particular eye for those of Somali descent. The president also floated the false claim that New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is “here illegally” and vowed to “look at everything.” Two Republican congressmen, Jason Ogles and Randy Fine, have called on the Justice Department to investigate Mamdani’s naturalization documents. Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill, several Republicans introduced bills this year intended to expand denaturalization.
A bill from Texas Rep. Chip Roy seeks to denaturalize “advocates for socialism, communism, Marxism, or Islamic fundamentalism.” A bill from Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Missouri, would create a path to denaturalize anyone convicted of an aggravated felony, fraud or espionage as long as 10 years after naturalization. Currently, the government cannot denaturalize someone for their actions after becoming a citizen except in a few rare circumstances. While neither bill is expected to become law, experts said it demonstrates a growing desire among Republicans to widen the government’s ability to denaturalize some U.S. citizens.
Still, any Large-Scale Denaturalization effort faces a Significant Obstacle: Federal Judges. Immigration Attorneys, and former Justice Department Officials said they expect the Courts to Carefully Review each Case on its Merits, as Required by Law. “I would expect federal judges to be extremely careful with these cases,” said Kanstroom, of Boston College. “The case law is very clear that citizenship is a precious thing, and it should not be taken away lightly.”
Michael H. Drucker
