Trump government aims to expand denaturalization of US citizens
The guidance, circulated Tuesday to field offices of US Citizenship and Immigration Services, directs officials to provide the Office of Immigration Litigation with between 100 and 200 denaturalization cases each month during the 2026 fiscal year, as stated by reports.
That target represents a dramatic increase compared with recent history. Between 2017 and 2025, the Justice Department initiated just over 120 denaturalization cases in total — a figure that, under the new plan, could be surpassed in a single month.
Under federal law, revoking citizenship is allowed only in narrow circumstances, such as when naturalization was obtained through fraud or material misrepresentation. However, immigration advocates and former officials caution that imposing numerical goals could encourage overly aggressive enforcement, potentially sweeping in individuals who made unintentional mistakes on applications, according to reports.
“It’s no secret that USCIS’ war on fraud includes prioritizing those who’ve unlawfully obtained U.S. citizenship,” an agency spokesperson said, adding that the agency would cooperate with the Justice Department to pursue cases backed by evidence.
Some former USCIS officials have expressed alarm at the scope of the proposed expansion.
“Imposing arbitrary numerical targets on denaturalization cases risks politicizing citizenship revocation,” said Sarah Pierce, a former agency official. She warned that monthly quotas far above recent annual levels could transform a “serious and rare tool into a blunt instrument.”
Supporters of tougher immigration enforcement counter that the administration is simply enforcing laws already on the books. Mark Krikorian, head of the Center for Immigration Studies, argued that the United States is “nowhere close to denaturalizing too many people.”
Roughly 26 million naturalized citizens currently live in the United States, according to census figures referenced in reports. In most instances, individuals who lose citizenship revert to lawful permanent resident status rather than being immediately deported.
Legal analysts note that denaturalization cases must be proven in federal court, where the burden of proof is high — a factor that has kept such proceedings relatively uncommon for decades.
Even so, critics warn that ambitious enforcement targets could sow uncertainty among law-abiding citizens who long believed their status was secure.
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