Trump Administration Plans Major Expansion in U.S. Citizenship Revocations

The New York Times reports that the Trump administration is preparing a significant escalation in immigration enforcement, this time targeting naturalized U.S. citizens.

According to internal guidelines obtained by the newspaper, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will begin revoking the citizenship of some naturalized Americans. Field offices have been instructed to submit between 100 and 200 cases per month to the Office of Immigration Litigation for the 2026 fiscal year.

Experts say this represents a sharp increase compared to previous years. Since 2017, only about 120 cases of citizenship revocation have been filed, according to the Department of Justice. Federal law allows citizenship to be revoked in limited circumstances, primarily in cases of fraud during the naturalization process or providing false documents or information.

A USCIS spokesperson said the agency will focus on individuals who obtained citizenship illegally or provided misleading information, in coordination with the Department of Justice to maintain the integrity of the immigration system.

Former officials have expressed concern over setting monthly quotas for revoking citizenship, warning that it could politicize the process. One former official said that dramatically increasing targets compared to past years could turn the practice into a rare but powerful tool in the hands of the White House.

The U.S. Census Bureau reports that there are approximately 26 million naturalized citizens in the country. Last year, about 800,000 people became U.S. citizens, a figure criticized by the Trump administration as unusually high. The administration has already taken steps to slow the naturalization process for many eligible applicants.

If USCIS moves forward, cases must be referred to the Department of Justice and go through federal courts, where the government must prove that citizenship was granted illegally or based on false information.