Trump Administration Targets 17 Citizens in Abdikadir Ali Kadiye Denaturalization
On Monday, the Trump administration moved ahead with abdikadir ali kadiye denaturalization, saying it would strip citizenship from 17 U.S. citizens convicted in criminal cases. The action targets people born in Cuba, Haiti, Somalia, China, India and elsewhere. Denaturalization is rare in the United States and can only happen in federal court.
Todd Blanche said the Justice Department is treating the process as a test of who keeps citizenship after conviction. “Gaining US citizenship is a privilege and under the steadfast leadership of President Trump, this Department of Justice maintains a zero-tolerance policy for the abuse of this process,” he said. Blanche added: “We continue to work around the clock with our interagency partners to make sure US citizenship is granted to those who truly deserve it,”.
Todd Blanche and federal court
The 17 people were convicted in various courts of healthcare fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy to manipulate stock prices. The Justice Department accused the individuals of covering up criminal activities during the naturalization process. That leaves federal court as the only venue where the government can try to take citizenship back, making the scale of the move unusual even before any judge weighs the cases.
Denaturalization applies only to U.S. citizens who received nationality through the citizenship process, not to people covered by birthright citizenship protections in the U.S. Constitution. Early in his presidency, Donald Trump signed an executive order seeking to revoke birthright citizenship to Americans born to undocumented parents, and the Trump administration is also targeting foreigners who come to U.S. territory to give birth to a U.S. citizen baby.
Donald Trump’s citizenship push
The Monday announcement fits into a broader campaign around citizenship rules. The same day, a federal judge struck down a $100,000 fee the Trump administration imposed on H1-B visas for highly skilled foreign workers after twenty Democratic attorneys general filed suit. US District Judge Leo Sorokin said the $100,000 payment was a tax that requires congressional authorization.
For the people now facing denaturalization, the immediate change is legal pressure in federal court, not an instant loss of status. For readers watching the administration’s immigration agenda, the more telling fact is that the government is pursuing citizenship restrictions on several fronts at once, from naturalized citizens to birthright claims and visa policy.
