Todd Blanche said the Department of Justice filed 40 cases to revoke U.S. citizenship from naturalized Americans accused of serious crimes and concealed facts. He called it the largest denaturalization effort in modern history, and the filings now go to court for individual review.
The cases were filed from late August through early October and target people accused of money laundering, child sexual abuse, visa fraud and tax evasion. Two people were accused of espionage on behalf of China, while the broader group includes citizens tied to Mexico, Pakistan, China and Sierra Leone.
Todd Blanche on Monday
Blanche said in a Monday statement, "Today’s announcement marks the largest denaturalization effort in modern history". He also said, "Under President Trump’s leadership, the Department of Justice will continue to employ the denaturalization process to maintain our national security and protect the American people."
Under United States law, prosecutors can ask courts to strip citizenship from people born outside the country if they wilfully concealed a material fact during the citizenship process that would have disqualified them. In these filings, the Department of Justice said the accused people hid criminal acts and other facts about themselves, and that their convictions largely came after they took their oaths of citizenship.
Emma Goldman and the Cold War
The use of denaturalisation has a long, uneven history. After World War II, the United States government moved to denaturalise dozens of citizens accused of concealing involvement in the Holocaust or engaging in war crimes, and Emma Goldman was jailed in 1917 for antiwar activities before she was denaturalised and deported to the Soviet Union.
The practice became much less frequent after the end of the Cold War, but the current filings show the Department of Justice using it at scale again. Last year, the Trump administration indicated it would seek to denaturalise large numbers of Somali Americans after allegations emerged in Minnesota of daycare fraud involving the Somali diaspora.
What the courts decide
The next step is judicial. Each case will rise or fall on whether prosecutors can prove that a person wilfully hid a disqualifying fact during the citizenship application process, including the allegations tied to crimes committed before naturalization.
Critics and human rights groups have argued that wider use of denaturalisation could leave people stateless, which makes the court cases more than a paperwork fight for the people named in them. Which 40 individuals are being targeted, and which specific cases prompted the filings, is the remaining question left for the courts and the public record.
