WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Partnership for New Americans (NPNA) is sounding the alarm on the Trump Administration’s formal expansion of its ongoing denaturalization campaign ahead of the 2026 midterms which CBS reports are targeting Naturalized Americans from Bolivia, China, Colombia, Gambia, India, Iraq, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Somalia and Uzbekistan. Much in the same way the President’s mass deportation campaign began, the Trump Administration is continuing to use similar, now proven false, claims of criminality as justification to cast an ever-widening net to denaturalize as many foreign-born U.S citizens as possible. Denaturalization is an extreme measure normally considered for war criminals or egregious fraud, not paperwork errors. Between 1990 and 2017, the U.S. government filed just over 300 denaturalization cases—or an average of 11 per year.
These attacks on legal immigration will not only result in less citizens and decreased civic participation—especially for those in the final stages of naturalization ahead of midterm elections—but also will worsen the existing backlog and leave countless people trapped in a life-altering legal limbo, leaving them vulnerable to deportation.
Said Nicole Melaku, NPNA executive director, “As a result of continual threats against citizenship, and with this latest escalation threatening nearly 400 people, we expect to see a chilling effect among those who are ready to begin their naturalization journey. At every turn, and from every angle, this administration has attacked citizenship and attempted to redefine what it means to be an American—and who gets to participate in our democracy. In actuality, the promise of democracy is for the people, and we envision a nation where all people can achieve their full social and economic potential, supported by humane policymaking. Congress must investigate the Constitutionality of these unprecedented attacks on citizenship, and oversight must be enacted before access to naturalization, full inclusion, and civic participation are eroded even further.”
Said Angelica Salas, Executive Director, Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), “The Trump Administration is using fear-based rhetoric to justify stripping away citizenship rights and making it harder for immigrants to fully belong in this country. Denaturalization policies rooted in suspicion and exclusion undermine democracy, create second-class citizens, and weaponize our immigration system against entire communities.”
According to reports from members of NPNA—a multi-ethnic, multiracial coalition of over 72 of the nation’s largest immigrant and refugee rights organizations—the administration’s attacks on legal immigration processes have been ongoing and broad. NPNA members report widespread denials, delays, and disruptions that now plague the naturalization process. This comes amid an enforcement surge targeting long-settled and thoroughly vetted refugee communities, slashing the annual refugee admissions cap by 600 percent, a 75-country migration ban largely targeting Black, brown, and Muslim nations, and efforts to revoke U.S. citizenship from nearly 400 people.
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The National Partnership for New Americans (NPNA) is a multi-ethnic, multiracial coalition of over 70 of the nation’s largest immigrant and refugee rights organizations with reach across over 40 states. Together with our members, we advance immigrant and refugee equity and inclusion, build and expand immigration legal services and integration programming capacity, and drive campaigns that strengthen democracy through increased civic participation. See our website for more information at partnershipfornewamericans.org.