Prosecutors announced denaturalization measures against 12 people they accused of crimes ranging from war crimes to sexual abuse of minors.
President Donald Trump congratulates newly naturalized national group
As part of the naturalization ceremony on July 17, a video of President Donald Trump welcoming and congratulating the new citizens was played.
The Justice Department has moved to strip more than a dozen people of their naturalized citizenship, a move increasingly used by the Trump administration.
On May 8, federal prosecutors announced a denaturalization lawsuit filed in federal court against 12 people, accusing them of crimes ranging from supporting terrorist groups and war crimes to sexual abuse of minors.
Between 1990 and 2017, there was an average of 11 degenerative incidents per year. During President Donald Trump’s first term, that number increased to about 25 cases a year.
Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, federal authorities can revoke the designation of naturalized U.S. citizens if they are ineligible and do not meet the requirements under which they were granted citizenship. This is usually based on authorities accusing the person of fraud, deception, or misrepresentation of information when they acquired citizenship.
The denaturalization process must be tried in federal court as a criminal or civil case.
“The Trump Administration is taking steps to correct these egregious violations of our immigration system,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement. “Those who intentionally conceal their criminal records or make false statements during the naturalization process will be subject to the fullest extent of the law.”
Previous denaturalization rarely applied to people accused of serious crimes, but also to people who posed a credible threat to public safety or national security, as well as war crimes and crimes against humanity, according to the nonprofit Immigration Law Resource Center.
Officials in the second term of the Trump administration have vowed to expand denaturalization. In June, the Justice Department released a memo expanding denaturalization priorities under the department’s civil division.
In a recent interview with CBS News, Blanche, who served as President Trump’s personal attorney during the president’s criminal conviction in Manhattan Criminal Court in 2024, defended the increasing use of denaturalization. Just as the administration has prioritized removing illegal immigrants, he said, “we have the same obligation to enforce the law when it comes to naturalized citizens” who are accused of committing fraud or doing something improper to obtain citizenship.
According to federal government data, there will be approximately 26 million naturalized citizens as of 2024. That same year, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that it had admitted more than 818,000 new citizens.
Contributors: Lauren Villagran and Mary Walrath-Holdridge
Eduardo Cuevas is based in New York City. Contact us via email (emcuevas1@usatoday.com) or Signal (emcuevas.01).
