DOJ files record number of cases to strip Americans of citizenship

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed a record number of cases to strip Americans of citizenship, the department said Monday.

In a Monday press release , the department said it unveiled on Monday the filing of denaturalization actions targeting 40 people “accused of serious offenses.”

The filings occurred in a number of U.S. district courts, with the offenses involving acting as an agent for a foreign government and committing voluntary manslaughter, per the DOJ.

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The department also said in the release that the actions were filed from late August to early October, and “represent the largest volume of complaints submitted in a single period under the Trump administration.”

“Today’s announcement marks the largest denaturalization effort in modern history,” Attorney General Todd Blanche said in the release.

“From an individual convicted of espionage to others convicted of sexual offenses against minors, these defendants concealed critical facts from the U.S. government and represent serious criminal offenders,” he added.

The denaturalization of citizens not born in the U.S. is uncommon, and really only occurs in cases in which a person committed fraud to try and immigrate to the U.S., or if they committed a type of disqualifying crime.

According to prior research , between 1990 and 2018, there were only 305 denaturalization cases brought by the government.

The second Trump administration has cracked down on immigration but has received strong backlash for its tactics.

Multiple people have been fatally shot in encounters with federal immigration authorities within the last year, and there have been complaints about how those authorities treat those they detain.