Special Poll
The Trump administration appears poised to target naturalized U.S. citizens as part of its broader immigration enforcement agenda, marking a new phase in the president-elect’s pledge to deport millions. Trump has promised to expel at least 15 million people, accusing them of “poisoning the blood” of the country. While experts argue that achieving such a massive deportation campaign would be nearly impossible, the attempt alone could devastate countless lives.
One particularly concerning initiative involves targeting immigrants who have already become naturalized citizens. This effort, though smaller in scale compared to mass deportations, could have profound and far-reaching consequences. To advance this agenda, Trump has appointed several hardliners to key positions, including Stephen Miller, who is expected to play a central role. Miller has openly expressed his vision for an aggressive crackdown, declaring that “America is for Americans only” at a campaign rally.
Miller plans to revive the rarely used process of “denaturalization,” which allows the government to strip individuals of citizenship if their naturalization was obtained through fraud or misrepresentation. Once citizenship is revoked, those affected could be deported alongside undocumented immigrants. Critics worry that this process, which relies heavily on subjective judgments, could ensnare people who made minor mistakes or acted out of confusion when applying for citizenship.
Denaturalization laws date back to 1906 and were historically used sparingly, often during periods of national crisis like the World Wars and the Cold War. More recently, it was reserved for cases involving terrorism or war crimes. For example, during the Obama administration, it was used against individuals like Rasmea Odeh, who concealed her role in a bombing that killed two people. However, under Trump, a program called “Operation Second Look” was created to dramatically expand denaturalization efforts, investigating thousands of cases, including many where no harm had been caused.
While the Supreme Court ruled in 2017 that citizenship could only be revoked for lies or omissions that were “material” to the naturalization process, Miller’s plans suggest a more aggressive interpretation. He has vowed to “turbocharge” denaturalization efforts starting in 2025, with the goal of stripping as many immigrants as possible of their citizenship. Such efforts could create enormous uncertainty and fear for millions of naturalized citizens, effectively turning them into second-class citizens by undermining their sense of permanence.
The consequences could ripple even further. Immigrants who were naturalized as children through their parents may face the loss of their citizenship through no fault of their own. Worse still, American-born children of denaturalized parents might find their own citizenship questioned, as Trump has also pledged to eliminate birthright citizenship for the children of undocumented immigrants.
Although denaturalization cases are judicial processes that allow for a trial in federal court, they come with significant challenges. There is no right to appointed legal counsel, meaning individuals who cannot afford an attorney may face losing their citizenship by default. For many, this financial burden could lead to unjust outcomes, which some argue is an intentional feature of the policy.
The broader impact of these efforts is likely to be profound, creating fear and instability among immigrant communities and eroding the confidence of naturalized citizens in their rights. For many, the assumption of permanence that comes with citizenship may no longer feel secure, turning the very idea of citizenship into a fragile status subject to political whims.