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. The Supreme Court ruled that this restriction of birthright citizenship violated the 14th Amendment, but other threats to citizenship and naturalization remain.
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.
Browse the Featured Issue: Threats to Citizenship and Naturalization collection
Justice Department Secures First Denaturalization As a Result of Operation Janus
As part of Operation Janus, DOJ announced that a judge revoked the naturalized U.S. citizenship and canceling a Certificate of Naturalization for Baljinder Singh. Singh’s immigration status reverted to lawful permanent resident, rendering him potentially subject to removal proceedings.
DOJ Seeks to Denaturalize Four Somalia-Born Individuals Admitted to the United States on Diversity Immigrant Visas
DOJ announced the filing of civil complaints against four individuals who allegedly obtained their naturalized U.S. citizenship by fraudulently representing to immigration officials that they were a family to gain admission to the United States through the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program.
DHS OIG Report: Individuals with Multiple Identities in Historical Fingerprint Enrollment Records Who Have Received Immigration Benefits
In response to a congressional request, DHS OIG analyzed a USCIS data set of foreign nationals whose fingerprints had been uploaded into IDENT through HFE I. USCIS identified 9,389 foreign nationals as having multiple identities and having received an immigration benefit.
United States Files Denaturalization Complaints Individuals Who Fraudulently Naturalized
The DOJ announced that it filed civil denaturalization complaints in federal court against three individuals who allegedly obtained naturalized U.S. citizenship by fraud by concealing prior orders of exclusion and deportation under different identities than the identity under which they naturalized.
United States Attorneys’ Bulletins (July 2017, Vol. 65, No. 3)
The July 2017 edition from the DOJ’s Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys includes articles related to civil immigration enforcement and the Office of Immigration Litigation-District Court Section.
Supreme Court Issues Ruling on Convictions for Unlawful Procurement of Naturalization Based on False Statements
The Supreme Court held that in a prosecution under 18 USC §1425(a) based on a false statement to government officials, a jury must decide whether the false statement so altered the naturalization process as to have influenced an award of citizenship. (Maslenjak v. United States, 6/22/17)
OIG Report: Potentially Ineligible Individuals Have Been Granted U.S. Citizenship Because of Incomplete Fingerprint Records
DHS’s Office of Inspector General released a report finding that USCIS granted U.S. citizenship to at least 858 individuals ordered deported or removed under another identity when, during the naturalization process, their digital fingerprint records were not available.