'Largest denaturalization effort in modern history': US moves to strip 40 naturalized citizens

The US Justice Department has filed denaturalization actions against 40 naturalized American citizens, in what Attorney General Todd Blanche on Monday called 'the largest denaturalization effort in modern history'. The 40 complaints, filed in multiple federal district courts between August 21 and October 2, accuse the targets of serious crimes including acting as an agent for a foreign government, voluntary manslaughter and aggravated sodomy against a special-needs man. The department says the individuals concealed criminal acts and other material facts while seeking citizenship, and that their convictions — largely obtained after they took their oaths — show they lacked the 'good moral character' the law requires. The accused come from a range of countries, including Mexico, Pakistan, China and Sierra Leone; two are accused of espionage on behalf of China. Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, a naturalized citizen's citizenship can be revoked if it was illegally procured or obtained by concealment of a material fact or wilful misrepresentation. 'Every single one of these individuals lied their way into U.S. citizenship,' said Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Civil Division. 'This administration will continue to pursue the largest denaturalization effort in department history.' The filing follows a surge that began in the summer: 24 complaints were filed between July 20 and August 3 against naturalized citizens from 17 countries, bringing the total since January 20, 2025 to 88. Internal plans call for at least 250 denaturalization cases in 2026. Federal data underline how far that departs from practice: research by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse found the government historically brought fewer than one denaturalization civil case per month — about 0.6 — and identified only 166 complaints from 2008 through mid-2026. The law has been used for decades but sparingly. After the Second World War, the government moved against dozens accused of concealing involvement in the Holocaust; the anarchist Emma Goldman was denaturalized and deported in 1917 after anti-war activism. Since the Cold War's end, the practice had become rare — until the Trump administration created a dedicated office inside US Citizenship and Immigration Services in 2018 to review cases and open proceedings. Critics warn that the new volume risks turning a surgical instrument into a political weapon. The White House has said it is 'looking at' denaturalizing Somali Americans over alleged fraud, and questions have been raised publicly about whether figures from Elon Musk to New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani could be targeted. For the roughly 25 million naturalized Americans, the message is unmistakable: citizenship, once granted, can now be audited.