Trump admin prepares to strip citizenship from naturalized Americans

President Donald Trump has confirmed that his administration is pursuing denaturalization of some U.S. citizens, with particular focus on Somali Americans.

What he’s saying: In an interview with The New York Times last week, Trump declared he would denaturalize Americans “in a heartbeat if they were dishonest” and claimed that “many of the people that came in from Somalia, they hate our country.” He cited Minnesota’s Somali community, where federal authorities have convicted dozens since 2022 of stealing hundreds of millions from a COVID-19-era child nutrition program.

While stating his denaturalization push extends beyond Somalis, the president refused to name other communities under consideration, asserting only that he would act when people “deserve to be stripped” of citizenship.

What this means: The denaturalization push poses risks for Asian American communities given their large share among naturalized citizens. As we have previously reported, India, the Philippines and Vietnam were the top-five origin countries for 818,500 new citizens during the fiscal year that ended last September.

Naturalization rates reach 63% among Asian immigrants versus 52% across all foreign-born residents, with Vietnamese, Cambodian and Laotian populations exceeding 80%. These established communities now face increased scrutiny through aggressive monthly quotas, raising concerns even for those who completed applications properly, especially where limited English proficiency or documentation challenges may have produced unintentional mistakes during years-long waits for citizenship.

What the law says: Denaturalization requires proof of intentional fraud involving misrepresented or concealed material facts during the citizenship application process, or membership in communist or terrorist groups within five years after naturalization. Importantly, post-citizenship criminal conduct cannot trigger denaturalization. Still, advocates worry officials may recast minor paperwork errors as deliberate fraud.

Meanwhile, guidance issued last month instructs USCIS offices to submit 100 to 200 denaturalization referrals monthly during fiscal 2026, far exceeding the roughly 120 cases filed from 2017 through 2025 combined.