Can You Lose U.S. Citizenship? DOJ Denaturalization Rules Explained

Denaturalization has moved from a rare legal remedy to an active enforcement priority under President Trump’s administration. The Department of Justice (DOJ) is now pushing far more cases, and USCIS has been told to feed those referrals at a much faster pace.

That shift matters most for naturalized U.S. citizens who have criminal histories, past immigration mistakes, or questions about what they disclosed on their citizenship applications. It also matters for applicants who filed, or plan to file, Form N-400 and want to know how much scrutiny they may face. Review the official USCIS naturalization page for the agency’s public guidance on becoming a citizen.

DOJ’s denaturalization push is now far broader

The DOJ’s Civil Division memo of June 11, 2025 put denaturalization among its top enforcement priorities and directed lawyers to pursue viable cases aggressively. The focus includes national security threats, war crimes, gang and cartel ties, serious felonies, fraud, and corruption. That list goes well beyond the small set of cases that used to draw attention.

A USCIS directive dated December 17, 2025 went further. It told field offices to refer 100-200 denaturalization cases each month to the DOJ’s Office of Immigration Litigation in fiscal year 2026. That is a sharp jump from the long-term historical pace of about 11 cases a year between 1990 and 2017.

VisaVerge.com reports that this is being treated inside the immigration system as a major enforcement expansion, not a routine policy tweak. The pace itself signals where the administration wants resources to go.

What denaturalization means

Denaturalization is the government’s revocation of citizenship from a person who became a U.S. citizen through naturalization. It does not apply to people born in the United States. Birthright citizens are protected by the 14th Amendment.

Under 8 U.S.C. § 1451(a), the government can seek to revoke citizenship if it was illegally procured or obtained through concealment of a material fact or willful misrepresentation. That usually means the issue existed at the time of naturalization. It is not enough that someone later made a mistake or committed a later offense.

The Supreme Court’s Maslenjak v. United States decision tightened that standard. The government must show that the lie or omission was material, meaning it affected the citizenship decision. The case also reinforced the high proof standard used in these cases: clear and convincing evidence.

The current target list inside the DOJ

The DOJ memo and related USCIS guidance point to a wide range of cases. The main categories include:

• National security concerns such as terrorism, espionage, and unlawful technology transfers
• War crimes and human rights abuses
• Gang and cartel affiliations
• Serious crimes, including human trafficking, sex offenses, and violent felonies
• Financial fraud and benefit fraud, including Medicare or Medicaid abuse
• Corruption and bribery
• Other cases the DOJ views as important, including criminal referrals

The government has said it is not focusing on minor or technical violations. Still, the broad wording gives prosecutors room to move on cases that once would have stayed on the shelf.

How the process works from referral to court

Denaturalization does not happen automatically. The case moves through several steps:

1. Investigation by USCIS or DHS, often through audits of Form N-400 files or criminal record checks.
2. Referral from USCIS to the DOJ or a U.S. Attorney’s Office.
3. Civil filing in federal district court.
4. Court proceedings, with notice, motions, discovery, and trial.
5. Judge’s ruling, followed by appeal rights.
6. Separate removal proceedings if the person then faces deportation.

There is no automatic deportation once citizenship is revoked. The person usually returns to the immigration status held before naturalization, such as lawful permanent resident status, and any removal case is handled separately in immigration court.

A person in denaturalization proceedings does not receive appointed counsel. They must hire a lawyer or represent themselves.

Who faces the greatest risk

The highest-risk groups are the ones tied to the DOJ’s new priorities. That includes people whose naturalization files hide terrorism links, gang affiliations, violent crimes, or fraud. It also includes applicants who concealed facts that would have blocked citizenship at the time they applied.

USCIS and DOJ attention is especially intense where post-citizenship arrests reveal older lies on the naturalization form. A later conviction can trigger a review if it exposes fraud during the citizenship process.

Naturalized citizens with clean records and accurate applications are not the focus. The government has said the campaign is aimed at serious fraud and dangerous conduct, not petty offenses.

2025 and early 2026 show the shift in numbers

The numbers show how fast this area has changed. DOJ filed 13 denaturalization cases in 2025 and won 8 of them. From 2017 through early 2025, total filings exceeded 120, far above the Biden-era annual average of 16.

Those figures are still small compared with the total number of naturalized citizens, but they represent a major rise from earlier decades. The long stretch from 1990 to 2017 averaged just 11 filings per year.

The administration’s approach has drawn backlash from immigration lawyers and advocacy groups. The American Immigration Lawyers Association has warned about weaponization, while other groups have questioned whether the referral pace turns a rare remedy into a quota system. FOIA requests in early 2026 sought more detail about the internal review effort sometimes described as “Operation Second Look.”

What naturalized citizens should keep in their files

People who have already naturalized should keep copies of their Form N-400, their supporting documents, and any criminal or court records. That paperwork matters if the government later questions a past answer or a missing disclosure.

Prompt response to any USCIS or DOJ notice also matters. Ignoring a letter only makes the case harder. A lawyer who handles denaturalization or citizenship cases should review the file early, especially where there is any arrest history, prior visa problem, or doubt about what was disclosed.

Families feel the pressure too. A denaturalization case can threaten travel plans, jobs, and household stability long before any final court ruling. For many people, the fear alone is enough to change how they deal with immigration paperwork.

Why the stakes go beyond one case

The broader effect reaches much further than the people in court. A more aggressive denaturalization campaign can make some lawful immigrants hesitate before filing for citizenship at all. It also pushes USCIS and DOJ resources toward fraud review instead of ordinary naturalization processing.

For now, the legal protections remain strong. Federal court review still applies. The government still has to prove material fraud or illegal procurement. And citizenship is not stripped away by accusation alone. Yet the enforcement climate is tighter than it has been in years, and that reality is already changing how naturalized citizens, applicants, and their lawyers prepare their files.