The US Justice Department is rapidly expanding its efforts to strip naturalised Americans of their status, putting hundreds of immigrants in immediate legal jeopardy.
Federal authorities have quietly escalated a targeted campaign across the country to dismantle citizenship previously granted to foreign-born individuals. Legal experts warn that the true scale of this sweeping autumn crackdown is only just beginning to emerge.
By October, at least 250 de-naturalisation lawsuits will be launched under an intensified Trump administration campaign to strip naturalised individuals of their US citizenship, a senior Justice Department official has revealed.
Federal prosecutors have already targeted 29 foreign-born Americans in less than two months this year, launching lawsuits to revoke their status over claims that their US citizenship was obtained through fraud.
If you come into our nation and break our laws, and lie in your immigration proceedings, you forfeit your privilege to be an American citizen.pic.twitter.com/3swXb5yn6g
Government attorneys are currently vetting more files to keep pace with an accelerating caseload that has already eclipsed historical trends. To put this into perspective, just 166 de-naturalisation lawsuits were initiated between 2008 and 12 June 2026, averaging fewer than 10 a year, according to data from Syracuse University's Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse.
The crackdown represents a key component of Donald Trump's wide-ranging hardline immigration strategy, a plan that extends far beyond a focus on undocumented migrants. It also highlights a clear shift within federal departments, which have reassigned resources to make the policy a top priority.
To drive the campaign forward, the Justice Department has quietly reassigned civil lawyers from other divisions, even removing staff from fraud investigation teams that the administration frequently touts as a priority. In addition, these files are being forwarded to local U.S. Attorney's Offices across the country, placing further strain on branches already grappling with heavy workloads.
Speaking to CNN, the senior DOJ official defended the policy, stating: 'This is a lawful tool that Congress has had on the books for decades,' while maintaining that the proceedings must take precedence 'to protect the integrity of American citizenship and make sure people who are present in this country and have enjoyed the benefits of citizenship are doing so lawfully, and the right people are acquiring citizenship.'
Among the lawsuits launched by the Trump administration to date are actions against individuals accused of committingfraud, sexually abusing a minor, or supporting terrorism either before or during their path to citizenship.
Source: International Business Times UK
