The US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced On Monday, the government announced it would revoke the citizenship of 17 naturalized citizens.
Cases of expatriation are rare; From 1990 to 2017 there were only 305 cases of expatriation, an average of 11 per year. During the same period, approximately 644,000 immigrants became U.S. citizens each year.
Under federal law, the government can ask a court to revoke citizenship from people who have fraudulently obtained their citizenship or committed a crime. Suitable fraudulent cases that can lead to expatriation include: entering into a marriage of convenience or withholding information about their past that would have made them ineligible. However, naturalized citizens still have the right to due process during an expatriation process. The government must present evidence to a federal judge as part of a civil or criminal case, making the process challenging and time-consuming for the justice system.
According to a recent report in the New York Times ArticleThe U.S. Justice Department is preparing to expand its efforts to strip citizenship from naturalized American citizens, identifying 384 people whose citizenship it may want to revoke. This press release comes exactly one month after the inauguration announced His plan is to denaturalize a dozen people.
In a statement accompanying the press release, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is quoted as saying:
When criminal aliens take advantage of the naturalization process by breaking the law, there are consequences. Criminal aliens lie about their past crimes, including drug dealers, sex offenders and con artists. Obtaining U.S. citizenship is a privilege, and under President Trump’s unwavering leadership, this Department of Justice has a zero-tolerance policy toward abuse of this process. We continue to work around the clock with our interagency partners to ensure that U.S. citizenship is granted to those who truly deserve it.
Others within the Trump administration, such as Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin and Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate of the DOJ’s Civil Division, echoed Blanche’s sentiments, saying the administration will not turn a blind eye to illegal acquisition of citizenship and stand by while Americans are harmed by criminals who have “exploited our generosity and manipulated our immigration system.”
