The Trump Department of Justice is continuing to denaturalize immigrants who obtained their citizenship fraudulently.
On Monday, the DOJ announced that 25 individuals would have their citizenship revoked for lying during the naturalization process.
“U.S. citizenship is one of our nation’s highest privileges, and it must be obtained lawfully and honestly,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told Fox News.
“The complaints announced today allege that these individuals secured naturalization through fraud, concealment, or other unlawful conduct— including by concealing violent crimes, sexual offenses against children, fraudulent identities, and other disqualifying facts,” he added.
🚨25 complaints filed since July 20, 2026, mark LARGEST denaturalization effort ever
“U.S. citizenship is one of our nation’s highest privileges, and it must be obtained lawfully and honestly,” said Acting Attorney General @DAGToddBlanche. “The complaints announced today allege… pic.twitter.com/ek7uHiAooR
— U.S. Department of Justice (@TheJusticeDept) August 3, 2026
Blanche continued by alleging that this is “only the beginning.”
“Today’s filings represent the largest coordinated denaturalization effort in Department history, but they are only the beginning,” he said. “The Justice Department will continue to use every tool available to protect the integrity of the naturalization process and the safety of the American people.”
The targets of the latest denaturalization drive include an 80-year-old Texas man, Jose Luis Martinez-Zavala, who was born in Mexico and later naturalized in 2014, according to KVUE.
“The Justice Department alleges he failed to disclose that in 2010 he committed aggravated sexual assault of a child, a first-degree felony,” the station notes. “It said that in 2020, he pleaded guilty to and was convicted of the offense in Travis County.”
The DOJ has also accused him of making false statements and perjuring himself when he submitted his naturalization application and later during his naturalization interview.
“Today marks the largest denaturalization surge in recorded history,” Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate said. “Every one of these individuals committed crimes incompatible with U.S. citizenship. We are moving at record speed to denaturalize those who sought to deceive the federal government and abuse the naturalization process.”
The targets also include 46-year-old Yi Lee, a Taiwanese man accused of being the ringleader of a marriage fraud scheme before he became a citizen.
“From January 2016 to on or about May 2017, Lee conspired to exploit U.S. immigration laws by uniting U.S. citizens with alien beneficiaries in sham marriages,” according to the DOJ. “Lee coordinated a payment schedule to the U.S. citizen conspirators and coached participants through the application process, including preparing them for immigration interviews.”
According to USA Today, the DOJ has moved to revoke the citizenship of nearly 90 immigrants since President Donald Trump assumed office in 2025. The current goal is to hit 250 revocations by October.
The only catch is that under current federal law, the feds can only request the revocation of citizenship for someone who obtained citizenship through fraud or misrepresentation.
Several bills proposed by the GOP would bypass this requirement:
After the events of yet another eye-opening New York election, it’s become clear that mass deportations must be coupled with robust denaturalizations of individuals who are working against America’s interests.
Therefore, I am introducing the Remigration Act, a bill that will:… pic.twitter.com/08SWxeDotX
— Rep. Andy Ogles (@RepOgles) June 25, 2026
Hezbollah terrorists are terrorists. They are not Americans.
Congress needs to pass my Naturalization Accountability Act and strip this terrorist of his citizenship. https://t.co/Tu1uUzAlkv
— Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) March 30, 2026
However, the bills would require rewriting the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, which is a big no-no to Democrats and others.
As for the ongoing denaturalization drive, experts say it’s not too different from the work completed by prior administrations, save for the prioritization. Other admins never prioritized it like Trump.
“On first blush, these cases don’t look all that different from cases that have been brought by previous administrations,” Daniel Kanstroom, a law professor at Boston College who specializes in immigration, told USA Today.
He added that it’s clear the DOJ is merely targeting those immigrants who pleaded guilty to crimes committed before or during naturalization. Kanstroom argued these immigrants should have been denied citizenship in the first place.
The Largest Denaturalization Effort Ever.
American citizenship through naturalization is a privilege. America’s laws and values must be upheld and respected. pic.twitter.com/uzytw7USOj
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) July 20, 2026
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V. Saxena is a staff writer with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University. Saxena also contributes to BizPac Review.
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