The Trump administration is planning to strip more foreign-born Americans of their citizenship, marking the latest escalation in the president’s crackdown on immigration, according to a new report.
Guidance provided to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services offices requests that they “supply Office of Immigration Litigation with 100-200 denaturalization cases per month” in 2026, The New York Times reported.
Individuals may only be legally stripped of their U.S. citizenship for a few specific reasons, such as if they committed fraud during the citizenship application process. Historically, this has been a rare occurrence. Less than 200 cases had been filed in the past eight years. And between 1990 and 2017, the federal government brought an average of 11 cases, according to the Immigrant Legal Resource Center.
But, the Trump administration — which has pledged to carry out the largest deportation program in American history — has sought to use every available mechanism to target immigrants.
“It’s no secret that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ war on fraud includes prioritizing those who’ve unlawfully obtained U.S. citizenship — especially under the previous administration,” Matthew Tragesser, a USCIS. spokesman, told the Times.
“We will pursue denaturalization proceedings for those individuals lying or misrepresenting themselves during the naturalization process,” he continued. “We look forward to continuing to work with the Department of Justice to restore integrity to America’s immigration system.”
Several former agency staff members voiced concerns over the directive, saying its new monthly goals are unrealistic.
“Imposing arbitrary numerical targets on denaturalization cases risks politicizing citizenship revocation,” Sarah Pierce, a former U.S.C.I.S. official, told the paper.
“And requiring monthly quotas that are 10 times higher than the total annual number of denaturalizations in recent years turns a serious and rare tool into a blunt instrument and fuels unnecessary fear and uncertainty for the millions of naturalized Americans,” she added.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, roughly 26 million people in the country are naturalized American citizens. And about 800,000 people became naturalized over the past year.
Earlier this year, the Department of Justice issued guidance stating its civil division will “prioritize and maximally pursue denaturalization proceedings in all cases permitted by law and supported by the evidence.”
The agency said it intended to take action against citizens who it believes “pose a potential danger to national security,” or who officials claim have acquired their citizenship through “material misrepresentations.”
At the time, advocacy groups and immigration attorneys warned that such expansive guidelines could result in a broad swath of U.S. citizens being targeted.
During his first term, Trump also increased the pace of denaturalizations.
A White House spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Independent.
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