The Department of Justice (DOJ) has laid out new guidelines encouraging its attorneys to seek to strip U.S. citizenship from those who have naturalized if they have committed various crimes.
The June 11 memo tells attorneys in the Civil Division to move to strip citizenship from immigrants if they pose a threat to national security or gained the status through fraud by failing to acknowledge past crimes.
But the memo lists a number of other qualifying crimes, adding that attorneys can prioritize denaturalization even for those who are facing “pending criminal charges” that have not yet secured a conviction.
It recommends denaturalization for those “who pose a potential danger to national security, including those with a nexus to terrorism” or who “committed felonies that were not disclosed during the naturalization process” or otherwise made “material misrepresentations.”
It also notes the memo is not intended to place any limits on denaturalization efforts, saying its attorneys can also take up “any other cases referred to the Civil Division that the Division determines to be sufficiently important to pursue.”
“The provision is so vague that it would permit the Division to denaturalize for just about anything. It could be something prior to or following naturalization. Given the other priorities discussed in the memo, it could be exercising First Amendment rights or encouraging diversity in hiring, now recast as fraud against the United States. Troublesome journalists who are naturalized citizens? Students? University professors? Infectious disease doctors who try to reveal the truth about epidemics? Lawyers?” Joyce Vance, a law professor and former U.S. attorney appointed by former President Obama, wrote on her blog.
“All are now vulnerable to the vagaries of an administration that has shown a preference for deporting people without due process and dealing with questions that come up after the fact and with a dismissive tone.”
President Trump and other GOP figures have suggested deporting political adversaries.
Trump on Tuesday said he’ll “take a look” when asked by a reporter if he would deport Elon Musk given his criticism of the president’s “big, beautiful bill.”
“I don’t know. I think we’ll have to take a look. We might have to put DOGE on Elon. You know what DOGE is? DOGE is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon. Wouldn’t that be terrible,” Trump said, referencing the Department of Government Efficiency, which Musk helped to launch.
And after progressive candidate Zohran Mamdani won the Democratic primary for the New York City mayoral race, Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) called for stripping the citizenship of the Ugandan-born nominee.
But the directive from the Justice Department also poses a risk to the nearly 25 million naturalized U.S. citizens, according to 2023 data.
A judge has already approved one denaturalization for Elliot Duke, an Army veteran and United Kingdom dual citizen. Duke was found to have been “distributing child sexual abuse material” but failed to acknowledge the matter when applying for naturalization and being asked about any past illegal activity.