The government of the United States through the Department of Justice (DOJ) has reportedly unveiled a directive to prioritize the U.S. citizenship revocation policy, targeting naturalized citizens for denaturalization.
According to reports, this policy was detailed in a leaked memo issued on June 11, 2025, and could affect over 25 million Americans who gained citizenship through naturalization.
The estimated 25 million individuals are U.S. citizens who immigrated to the country after being born abroad, according to a U.S. data from 2023.
In the leaked memo, the U.S. citizenship revocation policy, listed 10 different priority categories for denaturalization, including individuals accused of fraud, serious crimes, or national security threats.
The purported directive also gives justice department attorneys wider discretion on when to pursue denaturalization, including in instances of lying on immigration forms, cases where there is financial fraud or medical fraud against the U.S. or a private individual, and cases referred by a U.S. attorney’s office or in connection with pending criminal charges.
According to the DOJ memo, the Civil Division is instructed to “maximally pursue” denaturalization in cases involving war crimes, terrorism, gang activity, or even minor misrepresentations during the naturalization process.
Pan-Atlantic Kompass reports that the U.S. citizenship revocation policy marks a dramatic escalation in the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
It appears now that the justice department’s civil rights division has been placed at the forefront of Trump’s policy objectives, including ending diversity, equity, and inclusion programmes within the government as well as ending transgender treatments, among other initiatives.
