Trump Administration Plans to Increase Denaturalization of Naturalized US Citizens

The Trump administration intends to increase efforts to revoke US citizenship from certain naturalized citizens, according to internal guidance reported by the New York Times.

According to the newspaper, guidance from US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), issued Tuesday, asks its field offices to “supply the Office of Immigration Litigation with 100-200 denaturalization cases per month” in the upcoming 2026 fiscal year, Reuters reports.

This target represents a significant increase in denaturalization cases.

The Immigrant Legal Resource Center reports that denaturalization cases averaged about 11 per year between 1990 and 2017. Increasing to 100-200 cases per month would be a more than a hundredfold rise, shifting the process from an exception to a large-scale operation.

Under US law, a person can be denaturalized for several reasons, including illegally obtaining US citizenship and misrepresenting a material fact during the naturalization process.

Denaturalization proceedings can take years to resolve, as each case requires individual examination and full judicial review. This makes the administration’s target particularly ambitious from both logistical and legal perspectives.

A USCIS spokesperson said it was not a secret that the agency’s “war on fraud” prioritized people who unlawfully obtained US citizenship, particularly under the previous administration, according to Reuters.

“We will pursue denaturalization proceedings for those individuals lying or misrepresenting themselves during the naturalization process,” the spokesperson said.

This statement suggests the Trump administration may be focusing on naturalizations granted during the Biden era, raising concerns about the potential politicization of a process that is meant to rely on objective criteria.

Since January, President Donald Trump has pursued a strict immigration agenda, including travel bans and efforts to end birthright citizenship.

Most recently, the administration paused immigration applications, including green card and US citizenship processing, for immigrants from 19 non-European countries.

This new denaturalization directive aligns with a broader strategy to restrict immigration, including by challenging previously granted naturalizations.

Setting a target of up to 2,400 denaturalization cases per year raises significant concerns among immigrant communities and civil rights organizations.

Denaturalization is among the most severe penalties in the US immigration system. It not only removes citizenship but can also lead to deportation, even for individuals who have lived in the United States for decades and raised families.

Critics warn that this large-scale denaturalization effort may create anxiety among millions of naturalized US citizens, who could fear challenges to their citizenship over minor or unintentional errors made years ago.

Meeting this target presents a significant logistical challenge for the US judicial system. Each denaturalization case requires thorough investigation, evidence collection, and full judicial proceedings that respect constitutional rights.

Federal courts, already burdened, will need to manage this additional workload. Each case must also be robust enough to withstand judicial scrutiny, as individuals facing denaturalization are entitled to a full defense.

Immigration attorneys anticipate extended legal challenges to the legitimacy of this denaturalization campaign, especially if it appears to disproportionately affect certain communities or nationalities.

Historically, denaturalization has been used sparingly in the United States, primarily in cases involving Nazi war criminals, terrorists, or individuals who committed serious and deliberate fraud.

Expanding this practice would fundamentally change US immigration policy, shifting US citizenship from a nearly permanent right to a potentially revocable status for millions.

This development cThis development could have lasting effects on perceptions of US citizenship and on immigrants’ trust in the US immigration system.l Context

This initiative arises in a highly polarized political climate regarding immigration.
The Trump administration states it aims to protect the integrity of naturalization and national security, while opponents view it as an effort to undermine the multicultural fabric of American society.

The coming months will reveal whether the administration achieves its denaturalization goals and how the courts respond to this unprecedented campaign. For millions of naturalized US citizens, uncertainty is increasing about the permanence of a status they believed was secured.
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