President Trump vowed to revoke hundreds of citizenships. He promised a supercharged denaturalization effort. The Justice Department said it was moving at “warp speed.” But it’s not working out that way.
The Trump administration has vowed to step up revocations of citizenship from some naturalized Americans as part of a broader immigration enforcement crackdown. The messaging has sparked fear among immigrant advocates, legal scholars, and naturalized citizens who worry about the potential for abuse.
But the cases filed so far are narrower than the rhetoric suggests. And the legal and practical constraints on using this tool more broadly are becoming clear.
The Numbers Tell the Story
NPR reviewed 34 publicly announced denaturalization cases filed or resolved by the DOJ as of last month, including 11 revocations of citizenship. In the last 16 months, the Trump Justice Department says it surpassed the number of cases filed during all four years of the Biden administration — 64 cases in total.
That sounds like a surge. But compared to the administration’s broader deportation agenda, which involves swift and aggressive detentions and deportations, denaturalization is moving at a crawl.
“I’m not seeing a major surge of worrisome denaturalizations. To me, it’s not at the level of an emergency,” said Daniel Kanstroom, professor of law at Boston College who specializes in immigration.
The Legal Wall
Naturalized US citizens have much stronger legal protections than non-citizens facing deportation. Denaturalization cases are historically rare and typically target people accused of concealing serious criminal conduct or terrorist ties during the naturalization process.
“These are cases in which the law is pretty clear that people are entitled to due process,” Kanstroom said. “They’re entitled to be heard by a federal judge, not just an immigration judge. So the protections in place for people facing denaturalization are pretty robust.”
The 34 cases reviewed by NPR largely involve allegations of fraud, child sexual abuse, terrorism-related activity, war crimes, and drug trafficking. In court filings, the DOJ argues the defendants concealed conduct that would have disqualified them from demonstrating the “good moral character” required for citizenship.
The Worry About Politicization
Despite the slow start, critics worry about where the policy could lead. Cassandra Robertson, law professor at Case Western Reserve University, said the government appears to be intentionally picking cases with criminal convictions because they are easier to win. But she fears the administration could eventually target political opponents.
“The denaturalization efforts are an attempt to suppress the political speech of naturalized citizens,” she argued. “Although the cases that have been brought first are maybe people who’ve committed some pretty bad crimes, the government’s rhetoric is certainly not limited to that.”
Former DOJ attorneys worry that prioritizing denaturalization cases could lead to retaliation against perceived enemies of the administration — something the current Justice Department has already been accused of doing.
The Resource Problem
Denaturalization cases require “a huge expenditure of time and resources,” said Stacey Young, founder of Justice Connection, an organization of former DOJ staffers who used to work on denaturalization cases. “The recent plans for escalation are unprecedented and will require an immense amount of time and work by lawyers who are already stretched thin right now.”
The DOJ faces an exodus of thousands of skilled lawyers. Offices of US attorneys across the country are now tasked with handling hundreds of cases of foreign-born Americans the department has identified as potential cases for revoking citizenship.
The Bottom Line
President Trump vowed to revoke hundreds of US citizenships. The Justice Department promised “warp speed.” But so far, the administration has filed 64 cases and revoked just 11 citizenships. Naturalized citizens have strong legal protections, including the right to a federal judge. Legal experts say the denaturalization effort is not yet an emergency, but they worry about where the rhetoric could lead. The DOJ is stretched thin, and the legal wall in Washington is holding for now.
