For naturalized Americans in this new America, even citizenship acquired decades ago can be reopened for review.
The Wall Street Journal reports that federal investigators targeting Congresswoman Ilhan Omar are looking for evidence that could be used to revoke her citizenship, including possible discrepancies in immigration records dating back to when she came to the United States as a child.
That investigation comes amid a much broader Justice Department push to take citizenship away from naturalized Americans in a process called “denaturalization.” The Justice Department says it has filed more than 200 cases since President Trump returned to office, compared with an average of about 11 cases a year from 1990 through 2017. Justice has made denaturalization an enforcement priority, and immigration officials have reportedly been directed to identify additional cases for prosecution.
There are about 26 million naturalized citizens in the United States, more than 14 million of whom became citizens before 2010.
Denaturalization is not something the government can simply order. It generally must prove in federal court that citizenship was illegally obtained or came through a material misrepresentation or concealment.
But there is generally no statute of limitations. This means investigators can go back decades into the records of someone who has long lived, voted and worked as an American citizen.
For naturalized Americans in this new America, even citizenship acquired decades ago can be reopened for review.
