Overview

• A June Justice Department memo instructs Civil Division attorneys to prioritize civil denaturalization cases for national security threats, gang members and any other matters deemed sufficiently important
• On June 12, President Trump threatened to revoke Rosie O’Donnell’s citizenship and suggested targeting Elon Musk and Zohran Mamdani despite lacking authority over U.S.-born citizens
• Fact-checking outlets and legal scholars have reiterated that the 14th Amendment bars involuntary stripping of citizenship from those born in the United States
• Civil denaturalization proceedings operate without guaranteed counsel, jury trials or statutes of limitation and use a lower clear-and-convincing evidence threshold, raising due process concerns
• Constitutional experts say the memo’s broad language and procedural gaps are likely to face court challenges as naturalized citizens seek to safeguard their rights