Trump administration planning to revoke citizenship of naturalized Americans: Report
What's the story
The Donald Trump administration is reportedly planning to expand its efforts to revoke the citizenship of some naturalized Americans. The plan, which was revealed in a report by The New York Times, calls for US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) field offices to send 100-200 denaturalization cases per month to the Office of Immigration Litigation during the upcoming fiscal year.
Targeted individuals
Denaturalization efforts target fraudsters, could impact innocent applicants
The American law only allows denaturalization under limited circumstances, such as obtaining citizenship through fraud. Matthew J Tragesser, a USCIS spokesman, told The New York Times that the agency's focus is on those who obtained US citizenship unlawfully and misrepresented themselves during the naturalization process. "We look forward to continuing to work with the Department of Justice to restore integrity to America's immigration system," he added.
Process details
Denaturalization process and its implications
The large-scale denaturalization drive could also affect people who made unintentional mistakes on their citizenship applications and instill fear among law-abiding Americans. Typically, in denaturalization cases, individuals lose their citizenship but return to legal permanent resident status. The directive was part of a larger document outlining USCIS priorities for the upcoming fiscal year, which started in October.
Population statistics
Naturalized Americans in the US and denaturalization cases
According to the US Census Bureau, there are about 26 million naturalized Americans living in the United States. Last year, over 800,000 people were sworn in as new citizens. Most of these new citizens were born in Mexico, India, the Philippines, Dominican Republic or Vietnam. Earlier this year, the Department of Justice had issued a guidance, stating that its civil division will "prioritize and maximally pursue denaturalization proceedings in all cases permitted by law and supported by the evidence."