by Kevin Killough
The Trump administration on Monday announced plans to revoke the citizenship of 17 U.S. citizens who are accused of immigration fraud.
The Justice Department said the revocations will be the largest denaturalization effort by the federal government, which previous administrations have rarely invoked, CBS News reported.
“When criminal aliens exploit the naturalization process by breaking the law, there are consequences. Criminal aliens are lying about their past crimes, including drug dealers, sexual predators, and fraudsters. Gaining U.S. citizenship is a privilege and under the steadfast leadership of President Trump, this Department of Justice maintains a zero-tolerance policy for the abuse of this process,” said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. “We continue to work around the clock with our interagency partners to make sure U.S. citizenship is granted to those who truly deserve it.”
Between 1990 and 2017, the Justice Department filed an average of 11 complaints a year seeking to strip American citizens of their citizenship, according to one study.
Federal law allows the federal government to denaturalize U.S. citizens born abroad if officials believe they committed fraud in the course of gaining citizenship. Officials need to persuade judges to strip citizenship from the accused in federal courts.
The Justice Department last year expanded the categories of naturalized citizens who should be prioritized for denaturalization.
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Kevin Killough is a reporter for Just the News. Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network and contributed to this story.
