Yeni Maricela Gonzalez Garcia from Guatemala was released from Eloy Detention Center on June 28th gets ready to go to New York to reunite with her three children who are in a shelter. Garcia children were separated after the border patrol apprehended her. Garcia said, on May 19, I enter the Yuma detention center where they (CBP ) treated me very bad there. On the 21st they took my children away from me. I was 19 days without communication with anyone. They treated me in the worst way. I asked for information from my children. what they told me that I was going to be deported to Guatemala and my children were going to stay in the hands of U.S. government. Cent02 7dkjwikmpc1ypv5ihle Original
Washington D.C. – The Justice Department has formally elevated denaturalization to one of its top enforcement priorities, marking a significant and controversial shift in how the U.S. government treats naturalized citizens. In a June 11 memo, Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate directed federal attorneys to “prioritize and maximally pursue” cases that could lead to revoking the citizenship of individuals who were not born in the United States — even when those cases fall into broad and loosely defined categories.
The policy, part of a broader push by the Trump administration to reshape immigration policy across nearly every level of government, is sparking alarm among legal experts and immigrant rights advocates, who warn that such measures could weaponize citizenship itself.
Denaturalization — the process of stripping a naturalized citizen of their American status — has historically been rare. Between 1990 and 2017, the federal government filed just over 300 such cases. But that changed under Trump’s first term, and now, in his second, the administration is moving to accelerate and expand the practice.
The memo outlines a wide array of offenses that could trigger denaturalization proceedings, including national security violations, immigration fraud, violent crimes, and financial misconduct. In many cases, the proceedings will take place in civil court, which carries fewer protections for defendants. Unlike criminal court, there is no guaranteed right to an attorney and the burden of proof for the government is significantly lower.
Critics say this shift opens the door to a two-tiered system of citizenship — one secure for those born in the U.S., and another that can be revoked for naturalized citizens, often based on subjective or retroactive criteria.
“What struck me is the ripple effect that this would have on children who were naturalized through their parents,” said Steve Lubet, professor emeritus at Northwestern University. “People who thought they were safely American and had done nothing wrong can suddenly be at risk of losing citizenship.”
At least one denaturalization has already occurred under the new guidance. Elliott Duke, a military veteran originally from the U.K., was stripped of their U.S. citizenship in June after a judge ruled that they had failed to disclose past crimes during the naturalization process. Duke had renounced their British citizenship to become a U.S. citizen in 2013 and is now stateless.
While the Justice Department insists that it will only pursue cases “as permitted by law and supported by evidence,” immigration lawyers say the language in the memo is dangerously vague. Prosecutors are encouraged to pursue “any other cases” they deem important, raising fears that political speech, associations, or even administrative errors could one day be grounds for removal.
“It fits in with the other ways that we’ve seen immigration enforcement happening under this administration,” said law professor Cassandra Robertson. “We’re creating a second class of citizenship — one that can be revoked not just for serious crimes, but potentially for dissent.”
