The Department of Justice has issued a new directive prioritizing denaturalization cases, significantly expanding the use of civil proceedings to revoke American citizenship from naturalized individuals. 

The enforcement agenda, outlined in a memorandum issued on June 11, is an expansion of policies set in place by President Obama, which used newly available digital tools to find cases of naturalization fraud going back decades.

Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate’s memo instructs DOJ attorneys to “maximally pursue denaturalization proceedings in all cases permitted by law and supported by evidence.”

The memo outlines 10 specific priority categories for denaturalization, targeting individuals accused of crimes such as terrorism, gang activity, war crimes, extrajudicial killings, or serious human rights abuses. The directive also lists as targets financial fraud, healthcare fraud, and cases involving misrepresentation or omission of material information during the naturalization process.  

Unlike criminal cases requiring a jury trial, civil denaturalization proceedings impose a lower burden of proof, and defendants are not entitled to legal representation. Critics argue this legal framework may allow the government to disproportionately target individuals for political or racial reasons.  

The memo is part of a larger shift in DOJ priorities under Attorney General Bondi, which include actions targeting sanctuary cities, diversity and equity initiatives, and gender-affirming treatments.

The practice of denaturalization, or stripping naturalized citizens of their American citizenship, dates back to the McCarthy era, when it was employed as a political tool. At its peak, about 22,000 cases were filed each year during the late 1940s and early 1950s, author Kristen Robertson noted in her 2019 report “Un(Civil) Denaturalization.”  

However, the Supreme Court curtailed its use in 1967, concluding that denaturalization created “two levels of citizenship,” which the court said conflicted with the American democratic ethos. The ruling reduced annual cases to mere single digits for decades.

The trend shifted with the Obama administration, which launched “Operation Janus.” The Trump administration has since amplified these efforts, broadening the scope of enforcement and formally directing attorneys to employ civil courts for denaturalization cases rather than pursuing criminal cases.  

“There just aren’t very many cases that fit” within the framework of priorities for denaturalization,  Ms. Robertson said. “If maximal enforcement is the goal, it may lead to targeting individuals who have committed no significant infractions, or perhaps none at all, but appear to be potential candidates for revocation.”  

At least one high-profile revocation has already taken place under the DOJ’s new directive. On June 13, a federal judge ordered the citizenship of Elliott Duke, a British-born American military veteran, to be revoked. Mr. Duke was convicted of distributing child sexual abuse material, a crime not disclosed during the naturalization process.