A dark chapter returns: Stripping citizenship

A dark chapter returns: Stripping citizenship
The Justice Department's bid to denaturalize American citizens has roots in the Red Scare

By Heather Digby Parton
Columnist
Published April 26, 2026 6:45AM (EDT)


(Salon) One of the lesser known effects of the Trump administration’s commitment to mass deportations is the right’s newfound freedom to talk of expelling anyone of whom they disapprove. You’ll hear people casually talking about deporting New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, or Donald Trump suggesting that “the Squad” — the self-proclaimed group that includes Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, all women of color — should “go back” where they came from, despite the fact that three of the four were born in the United States. Even though Omar, who was born in Somalia, became a naturalized citizen when she was 17, Trump has said many times that she should be deported.

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Now the Trump administration is attempting to turn that rhetoric into action. The New York Times reported on Thursday that the Justice Department is targeting hundreds of citizens for denaturalization and deportation proceedings, informing offices all over the country that they will be assigning cases against specific individuals. While there is yet no word who those individuals are or what criteria might be used, we do know that cases can be brought against naturalized citizens who can be proved to have committed fraud in obtaining citizenship or, in some situations, have been convicted of crimes. These orders follow an edict issued by the administration establishing a quota of denaturalizing 100 to 200 people per month in 2026.

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Such processes are not unprecedented. According to historian Patrick Weil, author of “The Sovereign Citizen: Denaturalization and the Origins of the American Republic,” more than 22,000 Americans had their citizenship revoked between 1906 and 1967. According to the journalist Atossa Araxia Abrahamian, most of the denaturalization procedures were administrative in nature, for commonplace schemes such as fraudulent marriage and the like, and the subjects were often even invited to reapply for citizenship. But many anarchists and communists, even members of the German Bund during World War II, were stripped of their citizenship and deported.

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While the Supreme Court looks likely to uphold birthright citizenship, it’s possible that when the next big citizenship case reaches the docket, the conservative majority would decide to overturn Afroyim v. Rusk. From a conservative tactical point of view, it makes sense; it’s an easy, less obvious way to split the baby and weaken the Fourteenth Amendment. And it’s not as if they care about precedent anymore. .................(more)

https://www.salon.com/2026/04/26/a-dark-chapter-returns-stripping-citizenship/