Justice Department Seeks to Revoke Citizenship of 12 Naturalized Americans

The Justice Department filed actions in federal courts to revoke the U.S. citizenship of 12 naturalized Americans on Friday, officials said. The department announced the cases in a press release, targeting individuals from Bolivia, Colombia, Nigeria, Somalia, Morocco, Uzbekistan, Iran, India, China, Gambia, Iraq and Kenya.

Officials stated the 12 had committed offenses that should have barred them from naturalization had the facts been known at the time. The filings occurred in Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Minnesota, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C. Some of the individuals have been convicted in the United States, while others face accusations of crimes committed abroad or immigration fraud during their citizenship applications.

Denaturalization requires a judicial order and can lead to deportation or additional jail time if lawful immigration status is absent afterward. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said the actions correct violations of the immigration system. "Individuals implicated in committing fraud, heinous crimes such as sexual abuse, or expressing support for terrorism should never have been naturalized as United States citizens," Blanche stated.

"The Trump administration is taking action to correct these egregious violations of our immigration system. One man from Morocco was naturalized in 2006 despite allegedly assisting in a plot to bomb the New York Stock Exchange while working with al Qaeda.

Another from The Gambia participated in an extrajudicial execution of military officers, which qualifies as a war crime that was concealed from U.S. authorities. A former Colombian diplomat who spied for Cuba since 1973 is also included even while serving a 15-year prison sentence for that conviction.

Officials said the civil denaturalization aims to complete accountability for someone who held sensitive U.S. government positions, including at the National Security Council. The cases represent a sharp increase from recent years, when filings averaged fewer than a dozen annually before rising during the first Trump administration.

The National Immigration Forum noted that denaturalization occurs only by judicial order. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services refers cases to the Justice Department when sufficient evidence exists of grounds such as fraud, terrorism support or concealment of serious crimes.

Once citizenship is revoked, the individual reverts to their prior immigration status. Data compiled by a Hofstra University professor shows annual denaturalization cases surged to 42 per year in the first Trump administration before dropping to 16 under former President Biden.

Friday's announcement continues what officials described as a record pace of filings aimed at restoring integrity to the naturalization process. Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate of the Civil Division said the disturbing criminal histories confirmed these individuals should never have received citizenship.

“This Department of Justice continues to file denaturalization actions at record speeds to restore integrity in our naturalization process.”

The department has described the effort as an expansion of its campaign against those who fraudulently obtained citizenship. Officials emphasized that the targeted individuals expressed support for terrorism, committed sexual abuse or engaged in fraud that undermined the naturalization oath.