U.S. Justice Department moves to strip citizenship from 17 people in unprecedented denaturalization push

This 2014 photo shows a person from Nicaragua receiving assistance in applying for United States citizenship in Miami. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images via CNN Newsource)

The U.S. Justice Department announced Monday that it will move to revoke citizenship from 17 people nationwide, marking the latest move in the Trump administration’s unprecedented push to target naturalized citizens.

Since U.S. President Donald Trump returned to office, his administration has doubled down on its denaturalization campaign, targeting foreign-born American citizens whom it accuses of fraudulently obtaining U.S. citizenship.

Officials say that some of the people targeted in the latest effort are accused of committing fraud and sexual abuse of a minor.

Denaturalization – the process of revoking citizenship from a naturalized U.S. citizen – is rare and can only occur in federal court. Historically, the U.S. revoked citizenship for a range of reasons, from lying about a person’s date of arrival, age or marital status to political reasons. During World War II, for example, the U.S. reviewed naturalization cases of German Americans who were pro-Nazi.

Under the Biden administration, the Justice Department filed 24 denaturalization cases, according to a DOJ official. The Trump administration has already outpaced that within the last year.

In May, the administration also moved to denaturalize a dozen individuals.

“Gaining U.S. citizenship is a privilege and under the steadfast leadership of President Trump, this Department of Justice maintains a zero-tolerance policy for the abuse of this process,” said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche in a statement.

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said the administration “will continue to use every lawful avenue to denaturalize and remove aliens.”

By Priscilla Alvarez, CNN