DOJ Orders Crackdown on Criminals Who Lied to Get U.S. Citizenship [WATCH]

The U.S. Department of Justice has issued a directive to civil division employees outlining new priorities for pursuing denaturalization cases against individuals who obtained U.S. citizenship through fraud or who have engaged in serious criminal conduct.

The memo, signed by Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate, was distributed across the Civil Division and establishes a formal framework for identifying and enforcing denaturalization proceedings under existing federal law.

Denaturalization refers to the legal process of revoking U.S. citizenship from individuals who were naturalized but are later found to have violated immigration or criminal laws before, during, or after their naturalization.

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The DOJ memo emphasizes the use of civil litigation under 8 U.S.C. § 1451 to revoke citizenship where justified by evidence.

According to the memo, the Civil Division will “prioritize and maximally pursue denaturalization proceedings in all cases permitted by law and supported by the evidence.”

The policy identifies ten categories of cases that the DOJ will pursue as a priority:

1. “Cases against individuals who pose a potential danger to national security, including those with a nexus to terrorism, espionage, or the unlawful export from the United States of sensitive goods, technology, or information raising national security concerns;
2. “Cases against individuals who engaged in torture, war crimes, or other human rights violations;
3. “Cases against individuals who further or furthered the unlawful enterprise of criminal gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and drug cartels;
4. “Cases against individuals who committed felonies that were not disclosed during the naturalization process;
5. “Cases against individuals who committed human trafficking, sex offenses, or violent crimes;
6. “Cases against individuals who engaged in various forms of financial fraud against the United States (including Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) loan fraud and Medicaid/Medicare fraud);
7. “Cases against individuals who engaged in fraud against private individuals, funds, or corporations;
8. “Cases against individuals who acquired naturalization through government corruption, fraud, or material misrepresentations, not otherwise addressed by another priority
9. “Cases referred by a United States Attorney’s Office or in connection with pending criminal charges, if those charges do not fit within one of the other priorities; and
10. “Any other cases referred to the Civil Division that the Division determines to be sufficiently important to pursue.”

The memo reaffirms that denaturalization actions will be handled through civil proceedings.

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In such cases, the standard of proof is lower than in criminal trials, and individuals do not have a right to court-appointed legal representation. However, they are permitted to retain legal counsel at their own expense.

“There are nearly 25 million naturalized citizens in the United States,” the DOJ memo notes, highlighting the importance of maintaining the integrity of the naturalization process.

A recent example of enforcement occurred on June 13, when a judge revoked the citizenship of Elliott Duke, a U.K. native and U.S. military veteran who had been convicted of distributing child sexual abuse material.

NPR reported that Duke, who uses they/them pronouns, admitted to engaging in the illegal activity prior to becoming a U.S. citizen.

Hans von Spakovsky, a senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation and former DOJ official, commented on the policy.

“I do not understand how anyone could possibly be opposed to the Justice Department taking such action to protect the nation from obvious predators, criminals, and terrorists,” von Spakovsky said.

He further emphasized that while individuals facing denaturalization can hire their own attorney, they are not entitled to government-funded legal representation.

“Nothing prevents that alien from hiring their own lawyer to represent them. They are not entitled to have the government — and thus the American taxpayer — pay for their lawyer,” he said.

The Justice Department’s renewed focus on denaturalization aligns with broader efforts under the Trump administration to enforce immigration law and remove individuals who pose threats to public safety or who gained U.S. citizenship through deception.

The policy is expected to remain in effect as part of the administration’s immigration enforcement priorities.