Trump admin ramps up efforts to revoke citizenship of foreign-born US citizens: report

The Trump administration is directing U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to refer 100 to 200 denaturalization cases each month, according to internal guidance obtained by The New York Times.

State of play: The guidance issued on Dec. 17 sets the monthly targets for fiscal year 2026, which started in October. This marks a sharp escalation as only at least 120 cases were filed from 2017 through this year. As per the Times, USCIS spokesman Matthew J. Tragesser said the agency prioritizes “those who’ve unlawfully obtained U.S. citizenship — especially under the previous administration.” Research by Hofstra law professor Irina Manta found that President Donald Trump’s first administration filed 42 cases yearly on average, while former President Joe Biden’s averaged 16.

So far, the DOJ has filed 13 cases this year and won eight. Earlier this month, Trump told reporters he’d “absolutely” strip citizenship from certain individuals, saying some were “naturalized maybe through Biden or somebody that didn’t know what they were doing.” The administration already signaled this approach in June, when Assistant Atty. Gen. Brett Shumate instructed lawyers to “prioritize and maximally pursue denaturalization proceedings in all cases permitted by law and supported by the evidence.”

What this means: The policy poses significant risks for Asian American communities, who represent a substantial share of naturalized citizens. In fiscal 2024 ending in September, India, the Philippines and Vietnam were among the top five countries of origin for the 818,500 people who became citizens. Asian immigrants also naturalize at higher rates than other groups, with 63% holding citizenship compared to 52% across all foreign-born residents in 2023.

This makes established Asian communities especially vulnerable. Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Lebanon and Iraq each have naturalization rates of 80% or higher among their U.S. immigrant populations.

The big picture: About 24.5 million naturalized citizens live in the U.S., representing 53% of the immigrant population. For Asian Americans, many of whom waited years as legal permanent residents before naturalizing, the threat of losing citizenship undermines the security that naturalization is meant to provide. The aggressive quotas could indeed spark fears even among those who followed proper procedures, particularly in communities where English-language barriers or complex paperwork may have led to unintentional errors during the process.

The push also contradicts research on immigrant behavior. In 2023, Stanford researchers found that immigrants face incarceration 60% less often than native-born Americans. In practice, denaturalized individuals generally return to legal permanent resident status rather than face deportation.

Despite the aggressive targets, the denaturalization process remains legally challenging, requiring federal court approval.