Overview

• On June 11 the DOJ Civil Division issued a memo directing prosecutors to maximize denaturalization cases and on June 13 secured the first citizenship revocation under the new policy.
• The administration has shifted cases to civil court, where it needs only clear-and-convincing evidence, defendants have no right to appointed counsel and there is no statute of limitations.
• Officials have suggested high-profile targets may include Elon Musk and New York mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani despite unclear legal grounds for denaturalizing either.
• Legal scholars warn the campaign echoes McCarthy-era denaturalizations that targeted political dissent under broadly defined “un-American” criteria.
• Critics say the vague criteria risk politicized enforcement and chilling effects on speech and have prompted multiple lawsuits challenging the policy’s due process implications.