Tipsheet

Inside the Trump Administration's Plan to Protect Citizenship

Jeff Charles
Jeff Charles  |  February 13, 2026 1:00 PM

The Trump administration is ramping up its efforts to revoke U.S. citizenship from naturalized Americans suspected of fraud, instructing immigration authorities to identify between 100 and 200 denaturalization cases each month.

Internal guidelines direct U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to “supply Office of Immigration Litigation with 100—200 denaturalization cases per month” in 2026, according to The New York Times.

USCIS will deploy fraud specialists and reassign staff at field offices to sift through past naturalization files for signs of fraud, material misrepresentation, or undisclosed criminal conduct. Reports suggest this instruction could generate over 1,000 denaturalization referrals in one year, compared to about 120 denaturalization lawsuits filed by the Justice Department between 2017 and 2025.

Supporters of the policy say it is meant to protect the integrity of U.S. citizenship and to root out bad actors who game the system. USCIS spokesperson Matthew J. Tragesser said, “It’s no secret that USCIS’ war on fraud includes prioritizing those who’ve unlawfully obtained U.S. citizenship.”

A June 2025 Justice Department memo instructed attorneys to “prioritize and maximally pursue denaturalization proceedings in all cases permitted by law and supported by the evidence.” The objective is to focus particularly on those tied to gangs, national security threats, war crimes, financial fraud against the government and serious violent crimes, according to Truthout.

President Donald Trump told Time Magazine that some people “deserve” to be denaturalized if they obtained their citizenship through dishonest means or committed egregious offenses.