Trump is not messing around anymore. The Department of Justice has initiated a sweeping expansion of denaturalization efforts, sharpening its focus on naturalized U.S. citizens accused of serious crimes or misrepresentation. Under a directive issued June 11 by Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate, federal attorneys are now instructed to pursue citizenship revocation more aggressively, marking a significant intensification of the administration’s broader immigration enforcement campaign.
Though denaturalization has long been part of the federal government’s toolkit—employed during the McCarthy era against suspected communists and Nazi collaborators—its use waned for decades before reemerging under President Obama and accelerating under President Trump’s first term, according to NPR. Now, the policy is being deployed with renewed vigor, in line with the administration’s broader strategy to combat illegal immigration: curbing birthright citizenship, scaling back refugee programs, and reasserting executive authority over immigration.
A recent case exemplifies the policy’s reach. On June 13, a federal judge revoked the citizenship of Elliott Duke, a naturalized U.S. Army veteran originally from the United Kingdom, after he was found guilty of distributing child sexual abuse material. Duke, who became a citizen in 2013, failed to disclose his prior offenses during the naturalization process. Having since renounced his British citizenship, Duke is now stateless—caught in legal limbo without government-appointed counsel, as civil denaturalization cases fall outside the protections guaranteed in criminal court.
The memo from Shumate expands the criteria for revocation, targeting individuals who committed crimes ranging from terrorist activity to defrauding Medicare or pandemic relief programs. Legal experts caution that the vague language and wide prosecutorial discretion risk eroding due process and establishing a two-tiered system of citizenship.
Supporters of the policy, including Heritage Foundation fellow Hans von Spakovsky maintains that individuals who obtained citizenship under false pretenses or committed serious crimes have forfeited their right to retain it. Von Spakovsky defends the civil litigation model as consistent with longstanding immigration enforcement practices, arguing that private legal representation is sufficient to safeguard defendants’ rights.
