Losing citizenship after it’s already been granted used to be rare. Not anymore. The Trump administration has dramatically ramped up denaturalization efforts this year, and the numbers back it up. At least 105 civil denaturalization lawsuits landed in federal district courts during the first seven months of 2026 alone, with 50 of those filed in July. Compare that to the period between 2008 and 2025, nearly two full decades, when only around 125 such cases were filed nationwide total. That’s per data from Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, cited in a Newsweek report.
Put simply: what used to happen over 17 years is now happening in seven months.
So How Does This Actually Work?
Denaturalization isn’t new, but it’s clearly a bigger priority now under the Justice Department’s role in the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
Here’s the basic setup. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services can flag and investigate a case, but they can’t pull the trigger themselves. That job falls to the Justice Department, which has to file a civil lawsuit to actually strip someone’s citizenship. The government usually argues the person lied, misrepresented something, or hid material facts when they originally applied for citizenship. Win the case, and the person loses their citizenship, full stop. Depending on their circumstances, they could then face deportation on top of that.
Since these cases play out in federal court, it’s ultimately a judge who decides whether the government’s evidence clears the bar needed to undo someone’s citizenship. And people caught up in these lawsuits aren’t without options. They can push back on the allegations and bring in a lawyer to fight it.
USCIS: “Zero Tolerance”
USCIS spokesperson Zach Kahler didn’t shy away from defending the surge when asked about it.
“USCIS has a zero-tolerance policy for anyone who lies or misrepresents themselves during the naturalization process,” he told the publication.
He framed the increase as part of a broader security push. Under Trump, he said, USCIS is screening and vetting applicants more thoroughly to protect public safety, and it’s leaning on the Justice Department to go after anyone who obtained citizenship fraudulently. “We will not take any shortcuts,” Kahler added, “and continue to protect the American people from those who attempt to defraud them.”