WASHINGTON: The Trump administration is preparing to significantly increase the revocation of US citizenship among naturalised Americans, generating concern among immigration groups and criticism from Democratic lawmakers.
Internal instructions obtained by The New York Times indicate that US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has been asked to provide the Office of Immigration Litigation with 100 to 200 cases of denaturalisation per month during the 2026 fiscal year.
If implemented, this would represent an unprecedented scale compared to previous years, when just over 120 denaturalisation cases were filed between 2017 and 2025. The new targets could result in up to 2,400 cases annually.
USCIS spokesperson Matthew J. Tragesser said the agency’s focus will be on individuals found to have committed fraud in the naturalisation process. “We will prioritise denaturalisation for those who misrepresented themselves during the process,” Tragesser told NPR. He added that USCIS will work with the Department of Justice to uphold the integrity of the immigration system.
Legal experts emphasised that denaturalisation is historically rare and used only under limited circumstances. Elizabeth Taufa of the Immigrant Legal Resource Centre said previous administrations have used digital tools to detect potential naturalisation fraud, but setting numeric goals for revoking citizenship is a new approach. She warned that the plan could create anxiety among naturalised citizens and those seeking citizenship, noting that achieving the quota could be difficult without compromising legal standards.
The proposal has drawn strong responses from Congress. Representative Pramila Jayapal, ranking member of the House Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement Subcommittee, said the plan would “target immigrants across the country, including naturalised citizens.” She described the numeric goals as arbitrary and warned that the policy could undermine the security of all Americans.
Jayapal, herself a naturalised citizen, said the proposal threatens the stability of citizenship as a legal bond. She said that actions undermining the status of naturalised Americans could have consequences beyond immigrant communities, affecting public confidence in government guarantees and legal protections.
The denaturalisation guidance is part of a wider set of immigration measures implemented by the administration. These include new limits on asylum applications at the US-Mexico border, a suspension of domestic asylum claims, and entry restrictions on travellers from selected African and Middle Eastern countries. Officials said the measures aim to protect national security and maintain the integrity of the immigration process.
Immigration advocates noted that legal challenges are likely. Under current US law, citizenship can only be revoked under specific conditions, primarily proven fraud during naturalisation. They warned that aggressive enforcement could generate fear among millions of citizens who obtained naturalisation legally and followed all requirements.
Separately, lawmakers in the House and Senate opposed the administration’s proposed “Public Charge Ground of Inadmissibility” rule. The policy would expand the definition of “public charge” to include use of health, housing, or nutrition assistance, whereas for more than 135 years it applied only to individuals primarily dependent on government support. Lawmakers said this change would bypass Congress and discourage immigrants from accessing legal assistance programs, violating the original intent of the law.
The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) proposed change could affect immigrant families seeking supplemental benefits, they said, while existing law was designed to support families who contribute to the workforce and community. “Congress has deliberately rejected these modifications, yet DHS seeks to implement them administratively, contrary to legislative intent,” the statement said.
Critics of the denaturalisation plan and related policies argue that the measures could erode trust in the US immigration system and raise concerns about the security of citizenship for millions of naturalised Americans. Legal observers said the measures may face court challenges, and that establishing clear legal standards will be critical to avoid violations of constitutional and statutory rights.
