#denaturalization — Public Fediverse posts

DOJ deploys tactic to strip naturalized Americans of citizenship
https://youtu.be/bZDq3e0wYgc?si=pUz_BDvkadAfXwns

Trump's denaturalization policy should shock us all.

#USPolitics #Citizenship #Denaturalization #DonaldTrump

About a year ago, the Trump administration published a memo expanding the categories of people who could be prioritized for #denaturalization.

Last month, the administration began the process of rescinding US citizenship from 12 people.
And this month, Trump’s Department of Justice has filed papers to strip 17 naturalized Americans of their citizenship.

This pace of denaturalization in the United States is unprecedented in our post-civil rights era.
The Biden administration initiated only 64 cases of denaturalization over its entire four years in office.
In 2008, the Obama administration began something called
"Operation Janus", a program that seemed set up to target Muslim communities in the United States,
but that program hardly netted any denaturalization cases.

We can take an even longer view.
Between 1990 and 2017, there was a grand total of 305 denaturalization cases filed by the government.
And, as one expert told the Washington Post, a number of those cases “involved aging former Nazis”.

Denaturalization, which was used excessively and ideologically up to and including the McCarthy era,
has been used sparingly since a 1967 supreme court decision (Afroyim v Rusk) set a high legal bar for denaturalization.
Since then, denaturalization has proven to be a difficult and costly undertaking for the government.
The institution of citizenship has also been generally revered by successive administrations.

Not so with Donald Trump.
The first Trump administration initiated denaturalization proceedings against 168 people.
And the current Trump administration is seeking to operate in another stratosphere altogether.
In December, internal guidance suggested the administration sought to pursue “100-200 denaturalization cases per month”,
according to New York Times reporting.

The problem here is not the idea of denaturalization.
There are legitimate and specific reasons why someone might lose US citizenship.
The law as it stands does allow for the revocation of citizenship if it was procured by fraud, willful misrepresentation, or concealment of a material fact, among a few other categories.

But many of the categories of people now subject to denaturalization, following last year’s memo,
“are not grounded in statute and are ripe for political abuse given their breadth”,
says the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA).
I couldn’t agree more.

Those now subject to denaturalization, according to the memo,
include any naturalized citizen the Department of Justice “determines to be sufficiently important to pursue”,
any citizen deemed “a threat to national security”,
and any citizen with “pending criminal charges”.

Those are, needless to say, very capacious categories.
And note the pending in the last example.
You don’t have to be convicted of anything.
Simply criticizing Trump may be enough grounds to lose your citizenship, the AILA warns:
“The administration is now turning enforcement into a political weapon that will ensnare people with minor infractions and those who express views critical of the current administration, even if they have not been found guilty of any wrongdoing.”

Surely the vast majority of citizens subject to denaturalization will be immigrants of color to this country,
and this too must not be lost on anyone.

What else should we expect from an administration that has all but ended refugee resettlement to the US except for white South Africans?
What do we expect from an administration that placed Greg Bovino in charge of immigration enforcement?
This same Bovino was recently the headliner at an extreme-right “Remigration Summit” in Portugal.
Remigration, if you’re not into the lingo, refers to plans for the mass expulsion of non-white immigrants and citizens from western countries.

At a D-Day commemoration in France, the US defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, used similar language, characterizing Europe as facing an “invasion” of immigrants and claiming that European beaches today “are stormed by different, dangerous ideologies”.

These are small ideas held by small-minded men,
but that doesn’t mean that they won’t cause major trouble for too many people.
Trump and his administration want us to believe that racial tribalism is our only future,
and they’re more than willing to pervert the rule of law to fit their clouded vision.
Forget citizenship.
What must really be denaturalized is the belief that human value is connected to the color of one’s skin.
The fact that I feel compelled to repeat this basic truism is not just a tragedy.
It’s also an indication of how much basic human understanding we’re continuously losing under this administration.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jun/10/trump-denaturalization-american-citizenship?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Bahrain has revoked the citizenship of 69 people, accusing them of sympathizing with iran

https://quokk.au/c/world/p/865508/bahrain-has-revoked-the-citizenship-of-69-people-accusing-them-of-sympathizing-with-iran

#TheGremlinZoo #DOJ #denaturalization #Immigration

From NBC NEWS.com: DOJ aims to strip citizenship from hundreds of foreign-born Americans, sources say

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/doj-denaturalization-strip-citizenship-foreign-born-americans-rcna341922

The U.S. government wants to strip citizenship from 384 naturalized Americans — and that's just the beginning. The DOJ is deploying prosecutors across 39 regional offices to massively accelerate denaturalizations, targeting more people in one push than the entire period from 1990–2017 (305 cases total). While fraud is the legal basis, experts warn this is about far more. "The message it sends is that naturalized citizens don't have the same rights as native-born citizens," says UVA law professor Amanda Frost. Is your citizenship actually secure? The answer may disturb you. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/23/us/politics/justice-dept-citizens-denaturalization.html
#Immigration #Citizenship #Denaturalization #DOJ #TrumpAdministration #ImmigrationLaw #CivilRights #USPolitics #BreakingNews

Between 2017 & late last year, the government sought to strip just over 120 naturalized Americans of their #citizenship. Such cases were far less common before #Trump was first elected, said Ms. Frost, who has written about the history of #denaturalization. Between 1990 & 2017, the government filed 305 denaturalization cases, an average of 11 per year.

#law #immigration #Trump #WhiteSupremacy #WhiteChristianNationalism

Traditionally, experts in the department’s office of #immigration litigation have handled #denaturalization cases. But the effort to enlist regular prosecutors to pursue these cases could lead to a surge in denaturalizations, which have been rare in recent decades. It also comes just months after #Trump admin officials ordered #DHS staffers to refer upward of 200 denaturalization cases a month to the #DOJ.

#law

Senior #DOJ officials in Washington told colleagues during a meeting last week that civil litigators in 39 regional offices would soon be assigned to file #denaturalization cases against the individuals, according to an official familiar with the announcement who was not authorized to describe it on the record. Two people familiar with the plans confirmed the broader effort to ramp up denaturalizations. It was not clear what led the DOJ to target the 384 individuals.

#law #immigration #Trump

#DOJ Targets Hundreds of #Citizens in New Push for #Denaturalization

The #Trump admin is assigning denaturalization cases to regular prosecutors, which could lead to a surge of people stripped of US citizenship.

The DOJ has identified 384 foreign-born Americans whose #citizenship it wants to revoke, part of a push to increase the pace of denaturalizations by assigning the cases to prosecutors in dozens of #USattorney’s offices across the country.

#law #immigration
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/23/us/politics/justice-dept-citizens-denaturalization.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share

Pook-Emu Bee: Links For 04-14-26

https://social.emucafe.org/naferrell/pook-emu-bee-links-for-04-14-26/

FBI deploys more resources to
‘dismantle fraud schemes’
in Minnesota

Cash Patel said the FBI believes
“this is just the tip of a very large iceberg”.

Some of those involved in the alleged scheme are being
“referred to immigrations officials for possible further #denaturalization and deportation proceedings where eligible”.

The Trump administration has portrayed Minnesota’s Somali immigrant community as a locus of widespread fraud, much of it allegedly perpetrated during the Covid pandemic.

Last month, Donald Trump ended legal protections for Somalis in Minnesota and accused the state of being
“a hub of fraudulent money laundering activity” under its Democratic governor, Tim Walz.

Somali Americans, Trump has said, “come from hell”,
“contribute nothing”
and should
“go back to where they came from”.

He has also described Minnesota’s Democratic representative Ilhan Omar as
“garbage” and said
“her friends are garbage.”

Omar has called Trump’s “obsession” with her and Somali Americans “creepy and unhealthy.”
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/dec/28/fbi-minnesota-fraud-schemes-somalia?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

…Because the govt must go through a challenging court process, #denaturalization cases have been rare.… #SCOTUS “has repeatedly stated that #citizenship & #naturalization are too precious & fundamental to our #democracy for the government to take it away on their whim. Instead of wasting resources digging through Americans’ files, USCIS should do its job of processing applications, as Congress mandated,” said Amanda Baran, a fmr snr #USCIS ofcl in the Biden admin.

#Trump #law #immigration

The guidance, issued on Tuesday to #USCIS field offices, asks that they “supply Office of Immigration Litigation with 100-200 denaturalization cases per month” in the 2026 fiscal year. If the cases are successful, it would represent a massive escalation of #denaturalization in the modern era, experts said. By comparison, between 2017 & this year to date, there had been just over 120 cases filed, according to the #DOJ.

#law #immigration #WhiteSupremacy #WhiteChristianNationalism

https://www.salon.com/2025/06/30/shocking-and-concerning-trump-doj-to-aggressively-investigate-naturalized-citizens/?utm_source=email&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=socialbuttons&utm_content=share_button

#Fascism #Immigration #Denaturalization #Trump

> ...under President Donald Trump's administration something as mundane as under-reporting income on a tax return could mean you are no longer a US citizen.
>
> [The DOJ has] made denaturalization one of five enforcement priorities for the agency’s Civil Division. The unit will now look at individuals in any of 10 priority areas, along with the catch-all of “any other cases” the agency determines “sufficiently important to pursue.”

https://news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/falsifying-a-tax-return-can-cost-your-citizenship-under-trump

#denaturalization #USA #TrumpRegime

NBC NEWS: Calls to strip #Zohran Mamdani’s citizenship spark alarm about #DonaldTrump weaponizing #Denaturalization….

Past administrations, including #BarackObama's, have sought to #Denaturalize U.S. citizens, such as #Terrorists and #Nazis. But advocates worry #Trump could target political opponents...

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/calls-strip-zohran-mamdanis-citizenship-trump-denaturalization-power-rcna216653

#TrumpRegime #fascists #denaturalization

"Former president Joe Biden put Rosenbaum over a DOJ team investigating Russian war crimes in Ukraine, but the Trump administration pulled that effort in what Rosenbaun described as 'a very disturbing retreat from the U.S. commitment to holding accountable the perpetrators of war crimes and aggression.'

Now Trump seeks to use Rosenbaum’s greatest weapon to target immigrants by re-defining the statute phrase 'pose a potential danger to national security'.

(. . .)

Hofstra University law professor Irina Manta said the administration’s tactic could have a 'chilling effect' on free speech, both political and otherwise.

CNN reports Trump MAGA ally Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn) is already asking Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate whether New York City Democratic mayoral primary winner Zohran Mamdani—who was born in Uganda and naturalized in 2018— should be subject to denaturalization proceedings."

https://www.alternet.org/trump-targets-students-immigration/

#TrumpRegime #fascists #denaturalization

"Trump administration wants to expand anti-Nazi law to target critics: report

Based upon a memo issued by the Justice Department last month, Donald Trump's administration wants to ramp up efforts to purge the country not only of undocumented immigrants but also naturalized citizens.

CNN is reporting that the president's DOJ has been examining ways to expand the scope of a law that will allow them to target a much broader swath of individuals – anyone who may 'pose a potential danger to national security.'

At the center of the argument is a seldom-used law that allowed the DOJ 'to deport hundreds of people who assisted the Nazis' who hid their involvement.

Based upon a memo issued by the Justice Department last month, Donald Trump's administration wants to ramp up efforts to purge the country not only of undocumented immigrants but also naturalized citizens.

(. . .)

That led Cassandra Burke Robertson, a law professor at Case Western Reserve University, to warn, "The politicization of citizenship rights is something that really worries me, I think it’s just flatly inconsistent with our democratic system," because it can be used to target critics of the president.

The report adds, ... current and former DOJ officials who spoke to CNN said that the beyond instructing lawyers to file as many denaturalization cases as possible, the memo is so broad that it could allow the Justice Department to invoke vague or unsubstantiated claims to expel people from the country.'"

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-doj-naturalized-citizens/

#denaturalization

"For decades, the US Department of Justice has used a tool to sniff out former Nazis who lied their way into becoming American citizens: a law that allowed the department to denaturalize, or strip, citizenship from criminals who falsified their records or hid their illicit pasts.

That power, under the new Trump administration, may be broadening.

According to a memo issued by the Justice Department last month, attorneys should aim their denaturalization work to target a much broader swath of individuals – anyone who may 'pose a potential danger to national security.'

The directive appears to be a push towards a larger denaturalization effort that fits with the Trump administration’s hardline immigration policies. These could leave some of the millions of naturalized American citizens at risk of losing their status and being deported."

https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/04/politics/justice-department-trump-denaturalization

«Last month…Justice Department ordered its attorneys to “prioritize and maximally pursue denaturalization proceedings…against individuals who pose a potential danger to national security.”»
#mamdani #denaturalization #nyc https://open.substack.com/pub/kenklippenstein/p/trumps-threat-to-deport-mamdani-isnt

:Trump was asked what he would do in response to Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani’s pledge to not allow ICE to arrest “criminal aliens” in New York City. Trump responded, 'Well, then, we’ll have to arrest him.' He added, 'Look, we don’t need a communist in this country,' then threatened Mamdani directly. 'A lot of people are saying he’s here illegally. We’re gonna look at everything.'”

#Trump #Republicans #BigBeautifulBill #AlligatorAlcatraz #denaturalization #ZohranMamdani
/24

"It’s so named because of the dangerous alligators, crocodiles and pythons in the wetlands around it, which are intended to terrify detainees and deter their escape.

Third, at a press conference yesterday, Trump signaled his intent to weaponize denaturalization of U.S. citizens."

#Trump #Republicans #BigBeautifulBill #EconomicElites #TaxCuts #immigrants #prisons #deportations #AlligatorAlcatraz #denaturalization #ZohranMamdani
/23