Overview
- The Justice Department filed federal complaints Monday seeking to strip citizenship from 17 naturalized U.S. citizens, calling the effort the largest use of denaturalization powers in modern times.
- The complaints allege a mix of immigration fraud, concealment of criminal conduct, and convictions for serious crimes including child sex offenses, wire fraud, and fraud related to visas and casinos.
- Denaturalization is a civil federal-court process that requires judges to be persuaded by clear and convincing evidence and, if successful, returns people to prior immigration status where they can face deportation and possible criminal exposure.
- Officials have increased denaturalization work since a 2025 policy broadened priority categories and the government has repurposed USCIS lawyers into U.S. attorney offices to speed referrals and litigation.
- Administration leaders defended the campaign as protecting citizenship rules while immigrant advocates and legal scholars warned of due‑process risks, strained court resources, chilling effects on naturalized communities, and likely congressional scrutiny.