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- The Trump administration plans to file at least 250 denaturalization cases by October, a significant increase in efforts to revoke citizenship.
- The Justice Department has already filed 29 cases in less than two months, far exceeding the annual average of less than 10.
- Civil litigators have been pulled from other divisions to pursue these cases targeting naturalized citizens accused of fraud or crimes.
The Trump administration plans to file at least 250 denaturalization cases by October, significantly intensifying its effort to revoke citizenship from people naturalized in the United States, according to a senior Justice Department official.
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In less than two months this year, the Justice Department has filed 29 denaturalization cases targeting foreign-born Americans whom it accuses of fraudulently obtaining US citizenship.
Civil litigators are actively reviewing additional cases to file as the department picks up a pace that has already surpassed previous years: Between 2008 and June 12, 2026, 166 denaturalization complaints were filed, an annual average of less than 10, according to Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse.
The push is part of President Donald Trump’s broader, aggressive immigration agenda — which has gone well beyond targeting people in the country illegally — and reveals how federal agencies have shifted resources to prioritize that agenda.
Behind the scenes, the Justice Department has pulled civil litigators from various divisions — including those assigned to investigating fraud, which the administration has flaunted as another top priority — to pursue denaturalization cases, according to the senior DOJ official. The cases are also being sent to US attorney offices at a time when many are already under immense strain.
“This is a lawful tool that Congress has had on the books for decades,” the senior DOJ official told CNN, adding that denaturalization cases should be prioritized “to protect the integrity of American citizenship and make sure people who are present in this country and have enjoyed the benefits of citizenship are doing so lawfully, and the right people are acquiring citizenship.”
The cases filed by the Trump administration so far include people who are accused of committing fraud, sexual abuse of a minor, or expressed support for terrorism before or during the naturalization process.
The federal government has the authority in federal statute to move toward revoking citizenship of an individual if they made false statements that were relevant to the naturalization process or if the citizenship was illegally procured, meaning they weren’t eligible for it. Denaturalization cases generally fall under one of those categories and then proceed as civil or criminal cases depending on the circumstances.
Denaturalizations do not apply to those who were born in the country and received citizenship through birthright. (Separately, Trump has attempted, via executive order, to end automatic birthright citizenship. The Supreme Court will soon rule on whether that policy move is legal.)
In the last decade, nearly 8 million people became naturalized US citizens, according to US Citizenship and Immigration Services.
DOJ shifts resources
The administration signaled its intent to prioritize denaturalizations in a June 2025 memo from Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate. Shumate listed 10 categories of priorities for cases, including individuals who pose a danger to national security, engaged in war crimes, engaged in fraud, or committed felonies not disclosed during the naturalization process, among others.
“These categories are intended to guide the Civil Division in prioritizing which cases to pursue; however, these categories do not limit the Civil Division from pursuing any particular case, nor are they listed in a particular order of importance,” the memo reads.
The denaturalization unit is made up of 12 attorneys who are working through a backlog of cases and continuing to field referrals from the Department of Homeland Security. The backlog includes identity fraud cases, as well as prior conviction cases, war criminal cases, and terrorism cases, the senior DOJ official said.
Given the volume, however, the Justice Department is pulling from other offices in its civil division, including civil fraud attorneys, political appointees in the front office, among other attorneys to expand capacity.
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US attorney offices, meanwhile, are also being referred cases and distributing those around the country depending on where the case will be filed. The senior DOJ official said US attorney offices may file “several hundred more” cases.
The cases are intensive and time-consuming, which is partly why previous administrations have largely focused on people involved in war crimes and terrorism.
The Biden administration, for example, filed a total of 24 cases over four years, according to the Justice Department.
“They may be able to expedite the process for initiating these cases, but regardless of the steps they take before cases are filed, the litigation process itself is still going to be a huge impediment to their goal of denaturalizing people in huge numbers,” said Stacey Young, who served at DOJ under multiple administrations and is the founder and executive director of Justice Connection.
‘Finding people who have committed serious fraud’
Denaturalization is rare and can only occur in federal court. Historically, the US revoked citizenship for a range of reasons, from lying about a person’s date of arrival, age or marital status to political reasons. During World War II, for example, the US reviewed naturalization cases of German Americans who were pro-Nazi.
Lawyers in the Justice Department had previously focused their efforts on people who had been found guilty of egregious crimes, making the cases they’d bring to court more clear cut, people familiar with these cases told CNN. These days, though, some Justice Department lawyers are feeling a building pressure to pursue any case that can be argued under the law — even alleged fraud based on how paperwork was filled out, the people told CNN.
Justice Department officials maintain that the agency is focusing on people who lied about criminal history or criminal acts that were ongoing when they applied for US citizenship.
“People who got a parking ticket — that’s not going to be somebody that we’re going to focus our resources on and may not even qualify for denaturalization under the statute,” the senior DOJ official said. “It’s really about finding people who have committed serious fraud against the United States and identifying those individuals and proceeding as quickly as we can.”
“Gaining U.S. citizenship is a privilege and under the steadfast leadership of President Trump, this Department of Justice maintains a zero-tolerance policy for the abuse of this process,” said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche in a June statement.
If the administration succeeds in a denaturalization case, that person will return to the immigration status they had prior to acquiring US citizenship. Generally, they usually return to their permanent resident status, though depending on the reasons for their denaturalization, they could also face deportation proceedings.
“The reason for the robustness of the protections, the reason the standard is clear and convincing evidence, etc. is because of Supreme Court decisions,” said Daniel Kanstroom, professor of law at Boston College Law School.
Kanstroom noted that the emphasis on denaturalizations by the administration is “potentially worrisome” but not currently cause for alarm, since the cases filed so far generally fit the type of cases previous administrations have pursued.
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CNN’s Hannah Rabinowitz contributed to this report.