US To Cancel Citizenship Of 25 Million Naturalized Immigrants

The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division has been positioned at the center of former President Donald Trump’s policy agenda, which includes dismantling diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs within the federal government and halting transgender medical treatments, among other measures.

This development comes as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reported its 13th in-custody death for the current fiscal year, which began in October 2024—already surpassing the 12 recorded during the entire previous fiscal year that ended in September 2024.

On Friday, University of Virginia President Jim Ryan resigned amid a Justice Department civil rights investigation targeting the university’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and its continued consideration of race and ethnicity in certain programs and scholarships.

In a related move, the Justice Department recently filed lawsuits against 15 U.S. district attorneys in Maryland over an order that blocked the immediate deportation of migrants contesting their removal.

Reports indicate growing turmoil within the department’s Civil Rights Division, which is undergoing a major shift away from its traditional mission of addressing racial discrimination.

This shift reflects new priorities driven by presidential executive orders. According to NPR, approximately 250 attorneys—around 70% of the division’s legal staff—have departed between January and the end of May.

The memo’s emphasis on denaturalisation follows the recent case of Elliott Duke, a U.S. military veteran originally from the UK, whose citizenship was revoked on 13 June.

A judge ordered the denaturalisation after it was revealed that Duke, convicted of distributing child sexual abuse material, had failed to disclose the offense during his naturalisation process.

Immigration attorneys have raised concerns over the use of civil litigation in such cases, warning that it removes certain protections for the accused—such as the right to legal representation—and reduces the burden of proof required, thereby accelerating the denaturalisation process.