Trump Administration Plans Major Expansion of Denaturalization Efforts, Targeting Foreign-Born Americans
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is preparing to significantly escalate efforts to strip citizenship from foreign-born Americans, implementing new directives that could see the number of denaturalization cases rise to unprecedented levels. According to internal guidance issued to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the administration has set a target of referring between 100 and 200 cases per month to the Department of Justice (DOJ) for prosecution in the 2026 fiscal year.
The initiative marks a sharp departure from historical norms, where denaturalization—the legal process of revoking U.S. citizenship—has been a rare enforcement tool reserved for the most egregious instances of fraud, such as war criminals concealing their past or individuals who committed serious acts of terrorism. Between 2017 and 2025, federal authorities filed just over 120 denaturalization cases in total. The new targets, if met, would represent a massive increase, potentially reaching up to 2,400 cases annually.
Administration officials argue that the crackdown is necessary to restore integrity to the nation’s legal immigration system. A spokesperson for USCIS stated that the agency maintains a “zero-tolerance policy” toward fraud in the naturalization process. The renewed push is expected to focus on individuals who allegedly obtained citizenship through “unlawful procurement” or by “concealment of a material fact.” This includes reviewing files for discrepancies in identification, undisclosed criminal histories, or other misrepresentations made during the application process.
The effort appears to be a realization of long-standing policy goals articulated by key administration figures. Senior policy advisor Stephen Miller has previously described plans to “turbocharge” denaturalization initiatives, referencing the revival of programs like “Operation Second Look,” which scrutinizes the files of naturalized citizens for potential irregularities.
Under the new guidance, USCIS field offices across the country are reportedly being instructed to dedicate specific resources to identifying potential cases. Once identified, these cases are referred to the DOJ’s Office of Immigration Litigation, which is responsible for filing the civil or criminal complaints required to strip an individual of their status. Unlike deportation proceedings for non-citizens, denaturalization requires a federal court order, placing a higher burden of proof on the government.
Legal experts and civil rights advocates have expressed deep concern over the imposition of numerical targets on what is traditionally a highly individualized legal process. Critics warn that the pressure to meet monthly quotas could lead investigators to target naturalized citizens for minor paperwork errors or technicalities that were previously considered insufficient grounds for such drastic action.
“Denaturalization was intended to be a remedy for finding mass murderers and terrorists who lied their way into the country, not for penalizing people for administrative mistakes made decades ago,” said a representative from the American Immigration Lawyers Association. “Turning this extraordinary power into a volume-based enforcement metric threatens to create a permanent second-class status for millions of naturalized Americans who will never feel truly secure in their citizenship.”
The administration has pushed back against these characterizations, asserting that the focus remains on “material” fraud that would have disqualified the applicant from citizenship originally. Officials maintain that those who followed the law have nothing to fear, while those who cut lines or lied to federal officers must be held accountable to protect the value of American citizenship.
This expansion of denaturalization runs parallel to broader immigration enforcement measures currently being enacted, including stricter asylum protocols and increased vetting for visa applicants. As the Department of Justice prepares to handle the anticipated surge in referrals, legal organizations are reportedly mobilizing to provide defense counsel for those who may find their status challenged in federal court.
For the nation’s nearly 24 million naturalized citizens, the policy shift introduces a new era of scrutiny. While the vast majority of citizens will likely remain unaffected, the existence of quotas suggests that the government is shifting from a reactive posture—investigating fraud when it is discovered—to a proactive one, actively searching through decades of records to find reasons to reverse the naturalization process.
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