The Trump administration plans to file at the least 250 denaturalization cases by October, considerably intensifying its effort to revoke citizenship from folks naturalized in the United States, based on a senior Justice Department official.
In lower than two months this yr, the Justice Department has filed 29 denaturalization cases focusing on foreign-born Americans whom it accuses of fraudulently acquiring US citizenship.
Civil litigators are actively reviewing further cases to file because the division picks up a tempo that has already surpassed earlier years: Between 2008 and June 12, 2026, 166 denaturalization complaints had been filed, an annual common of lower than 10, according to Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse.
The push is a part of President Donald Trump’s broader, aggressive immigration agenda — which has gone well beyond focusing on folks in the nation illegally — and divulges how federal businesses have shifted sources to prioritize that agenda.
Behind the scenes, the Justice Department has pulled civil litigators from numerous divisions — together with these assigned to investigating fraud, which the administration has flaunted as one other prime precedence — to pursue denaturalization cases, based on the senior DOJ official. The cases are additionally being despatched to US lawyer places of work at a time when many are already below immense pressure.
“This is a lawful tool that Congress has had on the books for decades,” the senior DOJ official advised NCS, including that denaturalization cases ought to be prioritized “to protect the integrity of American citizenship and make sure people who are present in this country and have enjoyed the benefits of citizenship are doing so lawfully, and the right people are acquiring citizenship.”
The cases filed by the Trump administration thus far embody people who find themselves accused of committing fraud, sexual abuse of a minor, or expressed help for terrorism earlier than or throughout the naturalization course of.
The federal authorities has the authority in federal statute to maneuver towards revoking citizenship of a person in the event that they made false statements that had been related to the naturalization course of or if the citizenship was illegally procured, which means they weren’t eligible for it. Denaturalization cases usually fall below a type of classes after which proceed as civil or prison cases relying on the circumstances.
Denaturalizations don’t apply to those that had been born in the nation and acquired citizenship by means of birthright. (Separately, Trump has tried, by way of govt order, to finish automated birthright citizenship. The Supreme Court will soon rule on whether or not that coverage transfer is authorized.)
In the final decade, almost 8 million folks grew to become naturalized US residents, based on US Citizenship and Immigration Services.
The administration signaled its intent to prioritize denaturalizations in a June 2025 memo from Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate. Shumate listed 10 classes of priorities for cases, together with people who pose a hazard to nationwide safety, engaged in warfare crimes, engaged in fraud, or dedicated felonies not disclosed throughout the naturalization course of, amongst others.
“These categories are intended to guide the Civil Division in prioritizing which cases to pursue; however, these categories do not limit the Civil Division from pursuing any particular case, nor are they listed in a particular order of importance,” the memo reads.
The denaturalization unit is made up of 12 attorneys who’re working by means of a backlog of cases and persevering with to discipline referrals from the Department of Homeland Security. The backlog consists of id fraud cases, in addition to prior conviction cases, warfare prison cases, and terrorism cases, the senior DOJ official stated.
Given the quantity, nevertheless, the Justice Department is pulling from different places of work in its civil division, together with civil fraud attorneys, political appointees in the entrance workplace, amongst different attorneys to broaden capability.
US lawyer places of work, in the meantime, are additionally being referred cases and distributing these across the nation relying on the place the case will likely be filed. The senior DOJ official stated US lawyer places of work could file “several hundred more” cases.
The cases are intensive and time-consuming, which is partly why earlier administrations have largely centered on folks concerned in warfare crimes and terrorism.
The Biden administration, for instance, filed a complete of 24 cases over 4 years, based on the Justice Department.
“They may be able to expedite the process for initiating these cases, but regardless of the steps they take before cases are filed, the litigation process itself is still going to be a huge impediment to their goal of denaturalizing people in huge numbers,” stated Stacey Young, who served at DOJ below a number of administrations and is the founder and govt director of Justice Connection.
Denaturalization is uncommon and may solely happen in federal courtroom. Historically, the US revoked citizenship for a spread of causes, from mendacity about an individual’s date of arrival, age or marital standing to political causes. During World War II, for instance, the US reviewed naturalization cases of German Americans who had been pro-Nazi.
Lawyers in the Justice Department had beforehand centered their efforts on individuals who had been discovered responsible of egregious crimes, making the cases they’d convey to courtroom extra clear minimize, folks acquainted with these cases advised NCS. These days, although, some Justice Department legal professionals are feeling a constructing strain to pursue any case that may be argued below the legislation — even alleged fraud based mostly on how paperwork was crammed out, the folks advised NCS.
Justice Department officers preserve that the company is specializing in individuals who lied about prison historical past or prison acts that had been ongoing after they utilized for US citizenship.
“People who got a parking ticket — that’s not going to be somebody that we’re going to focus our resources on and may not even qualify for denaturalization under the statute,” the senior DOJ official stated. “It’s really about finding people who have committed serious fraud against the United States and identifying those individuals and proceeding as quickly as we can.”
“Gaining U.S. citizenship is a privilege and under the steadfast leadership of President Trump, this Department of Justice maintains a zero-tolerance policy for the abuse of this process,” stated Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche in a June statement.
If the administration succeeds in a denaturalization case, that particular person will return to the immigration standing that they had previous to buying US citizenship. Generally, they often return to their everlasting resident standing, although relying on the explanations for his or her denaturalization, they may additionally face deportation proceedings.
“The reason for the robustness of the protections, the reason the standard is clear and convincing evidence, etc. is because of Supreme Court decisions,” stated Daniel Kanstroom, professor of legislation at Boston College Law School.
Kanstroom famous that the emphasis on denaturalizations by the administration is “potentially worrisome” however not at the moment trigger for alarm, for the reason that cases filed thus far usually match the kind of cases earlier administrations have pursued.