The Revival of Denaturalisation under the Trump Administration

The Revival of Denaturalisation under the Trump Administration probes the Trump Administration’s decision to dramatically scrutinize past grants of naturalization and to pursue denaturalization as a policy priority. The 1967 Supreme Court case in Afroyim vs. Rusk restricted the government’s ability to revoke citizenship to exigent circumstances, such as when individuals lie about participation in human rights atrocities in their countries of origin. Prior to 1967, on the other hand, it was common for citizens to be denaturalized under broad national security and foreign policy concerns (22,000 immigrants lost their citizenship from 1907 to 1967). As a result of this landmark decision, there were only 150 cases of denaturalization between 1968 and 2013. However, since President Trump took office, his administration has announced its intention to reexamine more than 700,000 grants of naturalization for “fraud” or “misrepresentation.” Because these cases are processed as civil proceedings, the standard of proof is lower and there is no mandated, court-approved attorney to defend accused individuals. Naturalization forms contain broadly worded questions that may incriminate applicants who unintentionally give inaccurate information on their applications. As such, there could be a presumption of guilt or misrepresentation of facts for some individuals who have secured their citizenship. The author contends that the revival of the threat of denaturalization is an attempt by the administration to discourage new migrants from coming to the U.S. and only serves to instill fear among naturalized citizens of losing their right to remain in the United States. (Mia Fasano for the Immigrant Learning Center's Public Education Institute)

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