DOJ Internal Denaturalization Quota Program Revealed: 100–200 Cases Per Month, 39 U.S. Attorney Offices Enlisted

Internal Department of Justice directives, reported publicly around April 23–26, 2026, reveal that the Trump administration established internal quotas requiring federal prosecutors to file 100 to 200 denaturalization petitions per month — a dramatic escalation from the historical average of approximately 11 cases per year between 1990 and 2017. The program enlisted all 39 regional U.S. Attorney offices and had already targeted 384 individuals in its first wave. Denaturalization cases seek to strip individuals of their U.S. citizenship by proving the naturalization was obtained through fraud or misrepresentation. Historically, denaturalization has been reserved for the most extreme cases, such as Nazi war criminals or individuals who concealed terrorist ties. Advocates raised alarm that the expanded program's quota-driven approach could sweep in individuals with minor paperwork errors or who are being targeted for political or enforcement reasons. The ACLU and National Immigration Law Center stated the program represents an unprecedented expansion of executive power to revoke citizenship and threatens the concept of naturalization as a permanent and secure legal status. The administration defended the program as a tool to enforce the integrity of the naturalization process and remove individuals who 'lied their way to citizenship.' The program operates alongside parallel enforcement by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) unit focused on denaturalization referrals.