United States federal law indicates that the Government can ask a court to strip citizenship from those who have fraudulently obtained US citizenship.
According to The New York TimesFor this to happen, the Government must present evidence before a federal judge through a civil or criminal proceeding.
The main reasons for revoking citizenship, according to the American media, are:
- Fake or simulated marriages
- Hidden criminal record
- Commit crimes
This denaturalization is rare, since, between 1990 and 2017, this type of cases totaled 305, an approximate 11 per year; However, between 2017 and 2025 the number increased to 120.
These types of cases continue to increase, as the Department of Justice (DOJ) has already identified at least 384 Americans from whom it wants to revoke their citizenship.
This increase in cases is due to the immigration offensive of the Donald Trump Government, which also targets the beneficiaries of green cards. Additionally, the effort to recruit regular prosecutors to handle such cases has been unusual in recent decades and comes just months after Trump administration officials directed Department of Homeland Security officials to refer more than 200 denaturalization cases a month to the DOJ, according to The New York Times.
Immigration attorney Kelly Ortega told N+ Univision that these actions “can be erroneous results because they are prosecutors who perhaps do not have the training,” which could cause obstruction in the processes.
However, Ortega indicates that naturalized people who did do things well “should not fear.”
“Citizenship fraud is a serious crime; anyone who broke the law and obtained citizenship through fraud and deception will be held accountable.”
Abigail Jackson, White House spokeswoman
DOJ spokesman Matthew Tragesser said officials were “pursuing the largest volume of denaturalization referrals in history” and added that “the Department of Justice is completely focused on rooting out criminal aliens who defraud the naturalization process.”
Added to this is that, during the week, the director of the Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Joseph B. Edlow, announced a comprehensive reevaluation of the green cards granted in recent years and during the administration of former President Joe Biden.
According to White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson, “citizenship fraud is a serious crime; anyone who broke the law and obtained citizenship through fraud and deception will be held accountable.”