The Justice Department moves to strip 40 accused criminals of citizenship

The Department of Justice announced Monday that it had filed denaturalization actions in multiple U.S. district courts against 40 individuals accused of serious offenses, representing what the department said was the most complaints submitted in a single period under the Trump administration.

The serious offenses included acting as an agent for a foreign government, committing voluntary manslaughter, and aggravated sodomy against a special‑needs man, according to the DOJ.

What law allows denaturalization? Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, a naturalized U.S. citizen’s citizenship may be revoked, and certificate of naturalization canceled, if the naturalization was procured illegally, by the concealment of a material fact, or through willful misrepresentation.

Attorney General Todd Blanche said the announcement marked the largest denaturalization effort in modern history. He accused the defendants of concealing critical facts from the U.S. government and characterized them as serious criminal offenders. He vowed that under President Donald Trump’s leadership, the Department of Justice would continue to employ the denaturalization process to maintain national security and to protect the American people.

Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate accused all of the individuals of lying their way into U.S. citizenship. He added that the United States would not tolerate deception in the naturalization process.