Featured Issue: Threats to Citizenship and Naturalization

The Second Trump Administration has pursued three strategies to restrict U.S. citizenship: ending birthright citizenship, making naturalization harder to obtain, and prioritizing denaturalization.

On his first day in office, President Trump issued an Executive Order attempting to restrict birthright citizenship—a right applied to anyone born on U.S. soil and protected by the 14th Amendment—to only those with a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident parent. Legal challenges block the order, and the Supreme Court will review a case challenging its constitutionality in April with a ruling expected this summer.

The Administration has also made it much harder to become a citizen by canceling naturalization interviews and oath ceremonies, pausing processing for applicants from “high-risk” countries, and changing eligibility requirements, such as requiring resource-draining visits to applicants’ neighborhoods. USCIS officers now apply subjective standards to assess “assimilation” and “allegiance and character,” even though the English and Civics tests and the Oath of Allegiance already objectively measure assimilation and allegiance.

Once naturalized, citizens face increasing threats to their status. The Administration has declared denaturalization a top enforcement priority. Once reserved for extreme cases, criteria for denaturalization have been expanded in ways that raise serious civil liberties concerns, including the potential weaponization of denaturalization against individuals critical of the Administration.

Collectively, these policies represent a direct assault on the foundational principles that define and protect U.S. citizenship.