Trump officials hope for 200 cases a month to strip foreign-born residents of citizenship, report says

The Trump administration is moving ahead with plans to strip some foreign-born Americans of their citizenship, with a target of 200 cases a month, according to a report.

In December 2025, guidance was provided to offices of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the agency within the Department of Homeland Security, requesting that they “supply the Office of Immigration Litigation with 100-200 denaturalization cases per month” in 2026.

The plans are now in motion, according to NBC News. Experts with the immigration agency have reportedly been carrying out visits to offices around the country and reassigning staff to review whether some citizens processed there could be denaturalized, people familiar with the plans told the outlet.

It is rare to strip someone of their citizenship. Between 1990 and 2017, there were only 11 denaturalization cases on average each year, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.

Individuals may only be legally stripped of their U.S. citizenship for a few specific reasons, such as if they committed fraud during the citizenship application process.

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Matthew Tragesser, a spokesperson for the immigration agency, said the administration was focusing on cases where there was credible evidence that citizenship was obtained through fraud or misrepresentation.

“We maintain a zero-tolerance policy towards fraud in the naturalization process and will pursue denaturalization proceedings for any individual who lied or misrepresented themselves,” Tragesser told the outlet. “We will continue to relentlessly pursue those undermining the integrity of America’s immigration system and work alongside the Department of Justice to ensure that only those who meet citizenship standards retain the privilege of U.S. citizenship.”

When the plans were first reported last year, Tragesser said it was “no secret” that the agency was pursuing a “war on fraud.”

In 2024, there were approximately 26 million naturalized U.S. citizens residing in the U.S., and the immigration agency’s website said it has “welcomed more than 7.9 million naturalized citizens” to the United States in the last decade.

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In a Department of Justice memorandum issued in June 2025, President Donald Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi made clear the administration would “prioritize and maximally pursue denaturalization proceedings in all cases permitted by law and supported by the evidence.”

The agency said it intended to take action against citizens that it believes “pose a potential danger to national security,” or who officials claim have acquired their citizenship through “material misrepresentations.”

At the time, advocacy groups and immigration attorneys warned that such expansive guidelines could result in a broad swath of U.S. citizens being targeted.

Trump has deployed a number of tactics to achieve what he called “the largest deportation program” in U.S. history, supported by a $170 billion spending package passed by Congress for immigration enforcement and detention.

The crackdown has been wide-ranging. Federal agents have been sent to carry out raids in cities across the country, including in Minnesota, where two American citizens were killed in protests, and people who are attending mandated check-ins with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and hearings at courthouses are being targeted for arrest.