Overview
- Internal guidance reported by the New York Times asks USCIS field offices to send 100–200 denaturalization referrals each month to the Justice Department’s Office of Immigration Litigation in fiscal 2026.
- USCIS confirmed its “war on fraud” posture, saying it will pursue proceedings against individuals who lied or misrepresented themselves during naturalization.
- A June Justice Department memo directed its civil division to prioritize denaturalization, identifying targets that include gang members, cartel affiliates, financial fraudsters, and violent offenders.
- The proposed volume—potentially 1,200 to 2,400 referrals annually—would dwarf past levels, with roughly 120 cases filed since 2017 and an average of about 11 per year from 1990 to 2017.
- Denaturalization requires DOJ action and a federal court ruling under a high evidentiary standard, prompting former officials and legal experts to warn the quotas are impractical and risk politicizing a rare remedy and stoking fear among naturalized citizens.