The administration of Donald Trump has instructed U.S. immigration authorities to identify between 100 and 200 potential denaturalisation cases each month, marking a significant escalation in efforts to revoke citizenship obtained through alleged fraud.
According to reports by NBC News cited by the Economic Times, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), which operates under the Department of Homeland Security, has reassigned personnel and deployed specialists to field offices nationwide. The move is aimed at reviewing previously approved naturalisation cases and generating a steady pipeline of referrals to the Justice Department’s Office of Immigration Litigation.
USCIS spokesperson Matthew Tragesser said the agency would act where there is evidence of fraud or misrepresentation in the naturalisation process.
“We maintain a zero-tolerance policy towards fraud in the naturalisation process and will pursue denaturalisation proceedings for any individual who lied or misrepresented themselves,” he was quoted as saying. He added that the agency would continue working with the Justice Department to safeguard the integrity of the U.S. immigration system.
The United States Department of Justice has directed its attorneys to prioritize denaturalisation cases, particularly those involving individuals deemed national security threats, perpetrators of war crimes, or persons convicted of Medicaid or Medicare fraud.
In addition, the department noted that it retains discretion to pursue “any other cases” considered sufficiently significant.
The renewed focus on citizenship enforcement aligns with Trump’s broader immigration agenda. He is currently seeking expanded authority to end birthright citizenship for children born in the United States to foreign nationals — a matter now pending before the U.S. Supreme Court.
In a Thanksgiving message last year, Trump stated that he would seek to remove individuals who were not a “net asset” to the country and pledged to denaturalise migrants he accused of undermining domestic stability.
