DOJ issues directive to strip naturalized US citizens for criminal offenses
10 months ago
- #denaturalization
- #immigration
- #civil-rights
- The Trump administration has issued a memo directing attorneys to prioritize denaturalization for naturalized citizens who commit certain crimes.
- The memo targets those who 'illegally procured' naturalization or did so through 'concealment of a material fact or by willful misrepresentation'.
- An estimated 25 million US citizens who immigrated after being born abroad could be affected.
- Denaturalization cases via civil litigation do not guarantee the right to an attorney and have a lower burden of proof.
- Priority categories include war crimes, human rights abuses, gang members, and financial or medical fraud.
- The justice department's civil rights division is reportedly in disarray, with many attorneys leaving.
- Recent cases include the denaturalization of a US military veteran convicted of distributing child sexual abuse material.
- Immigration attorneys warn this creates a 'second class of US citizens' by stripping rights and speeding up the process.