Can Trump Really Denaturalize Somalis En Masse?

President Donald Trump would like to see Somali-American criminals denaturalized at a much larger scale, but that wish is easier said than done.

While federal immigration officials have highlighted the apprehension of numerous Somali illegal migrants accused of serious offenses in recent days, the crackdown on criminals who’ve already obtained citizenship could prove more difficult, given historical trends and no clear language addressing post-naturalization crimes. Despite the roadblocks, the Trump administration is prioritizing the issue and a growing number of GOP lawmakers are calling for denaturalizations.

“If the review of an applicant for naturalization’s alien registration file results in the discovery of some material misrepresentation committed in furtherance of obtaining an immigration law benefit that wasn’t previously discovered, the failure to disclose the fraud on the naturalization application can result in not only criminal prosecution, but denaturalization and removal from the country,” Matthew Kolken, a New York-based immigration attorney, told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

But the process to strip citizenship from naturalized Americans is cumbersome and there have been relatively few denaturalizations over the years.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) lodged a total of 305 denaturalization cases between 1990 and 2017, resulting in an average of just 11 denaturalization cases annually, with many of those cases not even resulting in revocation of citizenship. The Trump administration has not released the number of denaturalization cases it’s initiated since the president returned to office.

There are more than 100,000 Somalis estimated to be living across Minnesota, with more than 80,000 of them living within the Twin Cities, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. More than half of them were born in the U.S, but of those who migrated from Somalia, 87% are naturalized American citizens.

‘They Hate Our Country’

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is currently overseeing a surge of immigration enforcement agents across the Minneapolis region, home to the largest Somali community in the United States. While deportation officers are apprehending Somali nationals and other criminal illegal migrants in growing numbers, the president has expressed interest in expanding the crackdown to those who’ve already become naturalized Americans.

“I would do it in a heartbeat if they were dishonest,” Trump declared in an Oval Office interview earlier in January. “I think that many of the people that came in from Somalia, they hate our country.”

The White House previously confirmed that the administration was not afraid to denaturalize Somali-born Americans convicted of fraud.

“Absolutely,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in late December. “And it’s something the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of State is currently looking at right now. It’s something this administration has already done.”

The uproar in Minnesota began when criminal networks in the state were alleged by federal prosecutors to have stolen an estimated $9 billion in taxpayer funds intended to help support children and low-income households, igniting national scrutiny and effectively ending Democratic Gov. Tim Walz’s political career. As of early January, federal prosecutors have charged 98 defendants in Minnesota for the fraud, with 85 of them being of Somali descent.

Further national controversy ensued when an independent journalist exposed a string of allegedly bogus Somali-run daycare centers in Minneapolis raking in taxpayer cash.

There are three main actions that can be considered grounds for revocation of citizenship, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the agency that manages the legal immigration system and delivers denaturalization cases to the DOJ.

An individual is subject to denaturalization proceedings if they deliberately failed to disclose “material fact or facts on his or her naturalization application,” such as keeping secret past crimes or extremist affiliations. Naturalized Americans who became a member of a Communist Party, totalitarian party or terrorist organization within five years of naturalization may also face the same fate, as well as someone who became a citizen through honorable service in the U.S. military, but subsequently left under other than “honorable” conditions.

The Trump administration, which has made immigration enforcement a hallmark of its agenda, declared in December that it aims to increase the pace of denaturalization cases. USCIS field offices have been asked to supply the Office of Immigration Litigation with 100-200 denaturalization cases per month throughout the 2026 fiscal year, marking a dramatic increase from generations past.

“Under U.S. law, those who procure citizenship on a fraudulent basis are subject to denaturalization. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services pursues denaturalization against any naturalized citizen found to have obtained citizenship through fraud, regardless of nationality,” USCIS spokesman Matthew Tragesser told the DCNF.

“We look forward to continuing to work with the Department of Justice to protect the American people from those who attempt to defraud them,” Tragesser continued.

Meanwhile, congressional Republicans are eyeing legislative changes to put convicted fraudsters, post naturalization, under the chopping block. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, who hails from Minnesota, declared in late December that the naturalized citizens of Somali descent involved in the fraud should be stripped of citizenship, and added that the law should be changed to make it happen.

GOP Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn, alongside several other Republican lawmakers in the Senate, on Jan. 8 introduced the Fraud Accountability Act, legislation that would not only add fraud as a deportable offense, but also make any naturalized citizen who commits deportable offenses — to include fraud — subject to denaturalization. The bill was referred to the Judiciary Committee for consideration.

This isn’t the first time Trump has attempted to prioritize denaturalizations. During his first administration, the DOJ launched the Denaturalization Section, a division solely dedicated to investigating and pursuing revocation of citizenship from “terrorists, war criminals, sex offenders, and other fraudsters who illegally obtained naturalization.”

While denaturalizations increased during Trump’s first term, the number of cases pale in comparison to the current administration’s wider deportation effort.

“They didn’t file thousands of cases, likely because these cases are so resource-heavy, and their attorneys were so tied up in court defending Trump’s various other immigration policies, many of which were found to be unlawful,” Matthew Hoppock, a Kansas-based attorney who specializes in denaturalization cases, said of Trump’s first term in comments to The Washington Post.

Of the 228 cases the DOJ filed between 2008 and early 2020, roughly 40% had been filed since 2017.

Outside of immigration arrests and deportations, the second Trump administration has cracked down on Somali nationals in other ways.

Earlier in January, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem declared that Temporary Protected Status (TPS) would be ending for Somalia, a move that will largely strip deportation protections away from the 2,471 Somali nationals currently holding TPS status. Another 1,383 Somalis had pending TPS applications at the time of the announcement.

In the meantime, the department tasked with prosecuting denaturalization cases says it’s ready to hit the ground running on the Trump administration’s goals.

“The Department of Justice is laser focused on rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse, and has already charged dozens of defendants from Minnesota who’ve defrauded the American people,” a DOJ spokesperson told the DCNF. “These efforts will continue until all fraudsters, including refugees who are laundering American taxpayer dollars, are brought to justice.”

“Denaturalization proceedings will continue to be pursued against any individual who illegally procured or misrepresented facts in the naturalization process,” the spokesperson continued. “Those who gained citizenship through unlawful means and endanger our national security will not maintain the benefits of being an American citizen.”