The Patriot Post® · Cracking Down on Citizenship Fraud

Under the Biden administration’s de facto open border policy, millions of migrants entered the U.S. illegally. As the border crisis grew, and as the American people began demanding that the disaster be addressed, Joe Biden and crew didn’t actually enforce border security; instead, they ensured the flow of migrants continued while artificially disguising the number of illegals by granting them some form of legal status.

In his ongoing effort to deal with America’s overall immigration problem, President Donald Trump has pushed for increasing the rate of denaturalization for those migrants who have fraudulently acquired U.S. citizenship.

In light of this focus, back in June, the Justice Department directed, “The civil division shall prioritize and maximally pursue denaturalization proceedings in all cases permitted by law and supported by the evidence.”

Last week, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) instructed its field offices to “supply Office of Immigration Litigation with 100-200 denaturalization cases per month” in fiscal year 2026. To put this in perspective, between 2017 and this year, the Justice Department filed just 120 denaturalization cases.

“It’s no secret that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ war on fraud includes prioritizing those who’ve unlawfully obtained U.S. citizenship — especially under the previous administration,” USCIS spokesman Matthew J. Tragesser explains. “We will pursue denaturalization proceedings for those individuals lying or misrepresenting themselves during the naturalization process. We look forward to continuing to work with the Department of Justice to restore integrity to America’s immigration system.”

While seeking to increase denaturalization efforts to 100-200 per month is indeed a significant shift, compared to the number of foreign-born naturalized citizens living in the U.S., it’s a drop in the bucket, as more than 26 million Americans are naturalized citizens today.

Furthermore, last year alone, more than 800,000 naturalized citizens were sworn in.

In any case, concerns about fraud should not be dismissed. Indeed, Trump recently brought up claims surrounding Minnesota Democrat Representative Ilhan Omar, who first arrived in the U.S. as an asylum seeker with her family from Somalia back in 1995. She naturalized in 2000.

However, legitimate claims have noted that she “married” her brother to help him enter the U.S. and subsequently naturalize. Should this indeed be the case, Omar would be guilty of immigration fraud. And with the recent example of massive taxpayer welfare fraud within the Somali community in Minnesota, concerns for other forms of fraud naturally rise.

Trump is also rightfully concerned about the problem of people immigrating to the U.S. and seeking citizenship without assimilating and embracing America’s values and culture.

American citizenship should be treated as a very special and privileged thing. For those blessed to be born American by birthright, it’s a wonderful thing to be treasured and guarded. Those fortunate enough to acquire U.S. citizenship via naturalization more often than not prize their citizenship even more than those born American. That’s because obtaining it was no small endeavor.

However, easing the path to U.S. citizenship will naturally attract individuals who don’t value it and don’t seek it for the good of the nation. America wants immigrants who have forsaken their land of origin and fully embraced and assimilated into the U.S., making it their new home and object of loyalty.

While the directive calls for increasing the number of denaturalization cases that USCIS recommends, the reality is that any significant growth in the number of citizens denaturalized is unlikely. That’s because every denaturalization case must go through the judiciary courts, not the executive branch’s immigration courts.

This year, the DOJ brought 13 denaturalization cases and was successful in eight. Don’t expect to see this number grow by very much. What the Trump administration is doing with this push is to serve as more of a warning against those with nefarious motives who may seek to fraudulently naturalize.

At the same time, Democrats will use this as more “evidence” that the Trump administration aims to deport American citizens out of racist motivations. Should that narrative stick, it could prove problematic for Republicans in next year’s midterms.