Trump Administration Ramps Up Efforts to Revoke Citizenship from Immigrants Who Commit Crimes or Pose National Security Risk

Strategic Insights -

The Trump administration has intensified its plans to revoke the citizenship of immigrants who have committed crimes or pose a national security risk, according to a recent memo. The push to identify and pursue those suspected of cheating to get their citizenship is not new to this administration, but the public push is raising concerns from advocates, who have accused the administration of using immigration enforcement for political purposes.

Denaturalization cases are rare, with the government stripping a naturalized immigrant of their citizenship if they are criminally convicted of naturalization fraud or if the government proves through civil proceedings that they illegally obtained their citizenship through fraud or misrepresented or concealed facts on their application. The number of denaturalization cases has remained small, with the Obama administration's Operation Janus identifying over 800 immigrants who had been ordered deported under one identity but became U.S. citizens under another.

Key Takeaways:

  • The Trump administration has announced plans to prioritize denaturalization cases against individuals who pose a potential danger to national security, commit violent crimes, are members of gangs or drug cartels, or commit Medicaid fraud and other types of fraud.
  • The denaturalization process involves stripping a naturalized immigrant of their citizenship if they are criminally convicted of naturalization fraud or if the government proves through civil proceedings that they illegally obtained their citizenship through fraud or misrepresented or concealed facts on their application.
  • The Obama administration's Operation Janus identified over 800 immigrants who had been ordered deported under one identity but became U.S. citizens under another.
  • Critics have raised concerns that the administration's public push will stoke fear among naturalized immigrants and potentially target individuals for their speech or political views.
  • The Justice Department has successfully secured denaturalization in one case against a British man who became a U.S. citizen after enlisting in the U.S. Army under a special provision but was later convicted of possessing child sexual abuse material.
  • Matthews Hoppock, an attorney representing people in denaturalization cases, says the memo "blows the doors open" for the administration to file as many denaturalization cases as it has the resources to file.

Statistics:

  • The Trump administration has filed over 300 denaturalization cases between 1990 and 2017.
  • The Obama administration's Operation Janus identified over 800 immigrants who had been ordered deported under one identity but became U.S. citizens under another.
  • The Justice Department has secured one successful denaturalization case against a British man who became a U.S. citizen after enlisting in the U.S. Army but was later convicted of possessing child sexual abuse material.

Sources:

  • [1] Alanna Durkin Richer, "Trump administration ramps up efforts to revoke citizenship from immigrants who commit crimes or pose national security risk", [Associated Press, 2025]
  • [2] Matthew Hoppock, attorney in Kansas, representing people in denaturalization cases
  • [3] Christopher Wellborn, president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
  • [4] Elizabeth Taufa, senior policy attorney and strategist at the Immigrant Legal Resource Center
  • [5] Operation Janus report, [2016]
  • [6] United States Department of Justice, Civil Division memo, [2025]