The Department of Justice released a memo, published on June 11, that could strip some Americans of their citizenship, reports The Guardian. The memo instructs attorneys in the department to conduct proceedings to revoke a person's citizenship in the event they have committed certain crimes.
The memo says if someone's citizenship was "illegally procured" or procured "by concealment of a material fact or by willful misrepresentation," attorneys in the department should work to revoke their citizenship.
The memo references 25 million U.S. citizens who were born abroad and subsequently immigrated to the country. It also lists 10 categories for denaturalization. Among the crimes that could cause someone to lose their citizenship – national security violations and committing acts of fraud.
The move gives U.S. attorneys a wider berth to decide when to pursue this tactic and was recently used in the denaturalization of Elliott Duke, originally from the U.K., who was convicted for distributing child sexual abuse material.
Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate, who authored the memo, said the move will be among the agency's top priorities.
"The Civil Division shall prioritize and maximally pursue denaturalization proceedings in all cases permitted by law and supported by the evidence," he said.
The memo says civil litigation will be used in order to revoke citizenship in certain cases. In this type of litigation, the individual facing denaturalization is not entitled to a government-appointed attorney. They can, however, hire their own council.
The Heritage Foundation's Hans von Spakovsky told NPR he couldn't understand how anyone could be opposed to the move by the DOJ to protect the country "from obvious predators, criminals, and terrorists."
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