The Trump administration is ramping up attempts to revoke citizenship from certain foreign-born Americans, expanding a denaturalization drive as part of a larger campaign to tighten immigration regulations.

According to NBC News, officials from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the Department of Homeland Security agency in charge of lawful immigration, were recently reassigned to field offices across the country to review cases of naturalised citizens who may be eligible for citizenship revocation.
The new approach represents a significant departure from earlier enforcement actions, which concentrated on a small number of cases.

According to sources who talked with NBC News, the government intends to present immigration litigation offices with 100 to 200 prospective denaturalization cases per month.

That would be a significant increase from Trump's first term, when the Justice Department filed only 102 denaturalization cases over four years, demonstrating the scope of the anticipated expansion.

Historically, denaturalization processes were infrequent and primarily reserved for persons who concealed major criminal records, human rights violations, or other relevant information during the citizenship application process.

The latest effort forms part of a broader DHS strategy to strengthen immigration enforcement, including expanded deportation operations, visa cancellations and moves to remove certain legal residents, including green card holders.

A USCIS spokesperson said the agency enforces a “zero-tolerance policy” on fraud in the naturalisation process and will initiate denaturalisation proceedings where there is credible evidence of misrepresentation or deception.

The agency added that it is working closely with the Department of Justice to safeguard the integrity of the immigration system.

Justice Department lawyers have reportedly been directed to prioritise denaturalisation proceedings, under guidance that spans a wide spectrum of potential cases — from individuals viewed as national security threats to those accused of defrauding federal programmes such as Medicare or Medicaid.

The directive also grants prosecutors discretion to pursue “any other cases” deemed significant enough to warrant action.

USCIS said it has reintroduced enhanced vetting procedures for all applicants, including more thorough inspection of application records and assurance that individuals meet statutory eligibility requirements.

Officers are now instructed to evaluate applications based not just on the absence of criminal activity, but also on positive contributions to society such as community involvement, stable job, and family duties.

The administration is also aiming to decentralise investigations by deploying trained workers across USCIS's more than 80 field offices rather than depending entirely on a centralised section, a move that officials hope would increase case detection and processing speed.