WARNING---Trump Administration Expands Target for Denaturalization
Those U.S. citizens who lied or committed fraud to obtain U.S. citizenship are the new target of the Trump Administration's campaign to denaturalize U.S. citizens according to a recent policy memo issued by USCIS Director-Francis Cissna. Denaturalization, as discussed in a previous blog posting, historically, has been relatively rarely sought by the U.S. government, and, when sought, sought only in more extreme cases (e.g., cases involving Nazis). However, the Trump Administration now plans to go after those who lied or committed fraud on their applications through digitizing (315,000) fingerprints from the 1990's and then reviewing them in the government's digital database- Homeland Security IDENT database- to look for cases where a person was previously ordered deported under a different name and then failed to disclose this information on their application. It is estimated that, so far, more than 2,500 cases have called for further review for this issue and nearly 100 of these cases have been referred to the U.S. Department of Justice for further action.
Considering this new policy memo and at a time where applying for U.S. naturalization is at a high, it is critical to know what needs to be disclosed on the application for U.S. naturalization and how to properly disclose it to avoid being criminally prosecuted and/or having one's U.S. citizenship revoked. If you are planning to apply for U.S. naturalization, you may prefer to consult with a U.S. immigration attorney before filing your case. ***Please keep in mind that this blog posting is for educational purposes only (i.e., to give you general information and a general understanding of this immigration related matter); this blog posting does not provide specific legal advice and does not form an attorney-client relationship.***
Sources:
(1) http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-trump-immigration-strip-citizenship-20180613-story.html
(2) https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/13/politics/citizenship-fraud-office/index.html
(3) https://apnews.com/1da389a535684a5f9d0da74081c242f3
