‘Sufficiently important to pursue’: Trump’s Justice Department gets ominously vague powers to denaturalize Americans over ‘material misrepresentations’

The Department of Justice has recently issued a memo that gives broad powers to strip citizenship from naturalized Americans. The memo, dated June 11, instructs prosecutors in the DOJ’s Civil Division to make denaturalization of various naturalized citizens a priority.

According to MSNBC, this development comes as the White House press secretary discusses the possibility of investigating New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani for potential citizenship removal, highlighting broader questions about immigration documentation that even affect high-profile figures like Melania Trump, following a proposal from Republican Representative Andy Ogles of Tennessee.

The memo gives the DOJ’s Civil Division authority to target “any other cases … that the Division determines to be sufficiently important to pursue.” The document outlines several reasons for denaturalization, including torture and human trafficking, but also extends to individuals who obtained citizenship through “concealment of a material fact or by willful misrepresentation.”

The civil litigation process raises concerns about due process rights

Legal experts have expressed worry about the DOJ’s choice to pursue these cases through civil litigation. Cassandra Robertson, a law professor at Case Western Reserve University, points out that in civil proceedings, individuals facing denaturalization are not entitled to legal representation. The government also faces a lower burden of proof in these cases, and decisions can be reached more quickly.

The timing of this memo is notable, as it follows a recent Supreme Court ruling on birthright citizenship that reduced lower courts’ ability to stop executive branch policies of disputed legality. This combination of events has raised questions about how the administration might use these expanded powers.

The memo’s scope includes targeting individuals who might pose potential dangers to national security, though this category remains broadly defined. This has caused concern among observers, particularly given Trump’s previous statements labeling critics as the “enemy within” and his attempts to link peaceful protesters to terrorism.

The expansion builds upon former President Barack Obama’s denaturalization policies, which Trump had already broadened during his first term, as evidenced by cases like a Trump supporter who was detained by ICE for a paperwork oversight from 2015. With these new guidelines, there are growing concerns about the potential for misuse, especially considering Trump’s past statements about deporting American citizens to foreign prisons and his characterization of political opponents.