The United States Department of Justice announced on Monday that it will seek to revoke the citizenship of 17 individuals across the country, in the latest escalation of the Trump administration’s denaturalization drive in the United States.
Since President Donald Trump returned to office, his administration has intensified efforts to strip naturalized citizens of their status, alleging that some obtained US citizenship through fraudulent means.
Authorities claim that among those targeted in the latest batch are individuals accused of fraud as well as sexual abuse of a minor.
Denaturalization—the legal process of stripping citizenship from naturalized Americans, remains rare and must be decided in federal court.
Historically, the United States has pursued such cases for reasons ranging from misrepresenting details such as arrival dates, age, or marital status, to politically driven reviews.
During World War II, for instance, citizenship files of German Americans suspected of Nazi sympathies were examined.
Under the Biden administration, the Justice Department filed 24 denaturalization cases, according to a DOJ official, a figure the Trump administration has already surpassed within the past year.
In May, officials also initiated proceedings to denaturalize 12 additional individuals.
“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 statement.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin added that the administration “will continue to use every lawful avenue to denaturalize and remove aliens.”
