Who is at risk for denaturalization?
Who is really at risk for denaturalization?
I’ve gotten calls from some of the U.S.’s 24.5 million naturalized citizens lately, asking if they should be worried. The Department of Justice’s (DOJ) renewed focus on denaturalization cases has many naturalizes citizens worried, even if they have nothing to fear.
It would appear that the DOJ is following a directive it was given last year. That enforcement directive told the agency’s Civil Division to prioritize denaturalization cases. It issued a long list of potential areas to look for cases, and potential grounds of denaturalization. The list included national security concerns like terrorism and espionage, human rights violations, human trafficking, felonies not disclosed during the naturalization process, fraud in the naturalization process, and even certain types of fraud that took place after naturalization. The last point was a surprise, as federal courts have historically limited denaturalization to cases where someone naturalized illegally. Fraud convictions after the process is usually not grounds for denaturalization.
I have been tracking DOJ and USCIS (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services) press releases on denaturalization since that directive. The press releases list case summaries and provide some insight into the types of denaturalization cases the DOJ is pursuing. Review of these summaries indicates to me that the DOJ is still targeting individuals who should not have been able to naturalize in the first place. This is not new territory- the case volume has picked up, but the ground for denaturalization have not changed.
I don’t want to minimize the threat, as enforcement interest is clearly on the rise. But denaturalization requires a rigorous burden of proof: “clear, unequivocal, and convincing evidence.” And it is limited to certain legal grounds. DHS agents in Homeland Security Investigations are likely finding it less difficult these days to garner DOJ interest in their cases. But the press releases also don’t indicate that DHS is taking on weak cases.
If you are concerned about your risk for denaturalization, please feel free to continue reaching out, particularly if the grounds listed and bolded above might apply to you. But also, see if familiarizing yourself with a recent summary of 25 denaturalization cases helps put your risk in perspective:
