October 5, 2026Updated October 6, 2026, 11:44 a.m. ET
The Department of Homeland Security is preparing to revoke the U.S. citizenship of 40 people accused of crimes, quickly expanding the department’s use of little-known denaturalization mechanisms.
“Today’s announcement marks the largest denaturalization effort in modern history,” Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement announcing the denaturalization crackdown. “From the individual convicted of espionage to others convicted of sexual offenses against minors, these defendants hid critical facts from the U.S. government and represent serious offenders.”
Among the crimes for which people were convicted – and for which they were denaturalized – were aggravated sodomy, transportation of child pornography and sexual abuse of a minor.
Not all have been convicted or pleaded guilty to violent crimes. At least 19 of the 40 people were subject to denaturalization proceedings for reasons related to accusations of lying on visa forms.
The 40 people come from around the world, with the largest number from Mexico, 11, according to a list shared by DHS. They are aged between 26 and 76 years old. The denaturalization cases cover a period from Aug. 21 to Oct. 2, the department said.
DHS referred questions about the status of denaturalization cases to the Department of Justice, saying DOJ “is the lead agency for denaturalization cases.” USA TODAY has contacted the DOJ for more information.
The decision to strip citizenship from 40 people in six weeks marks the largest number of denaturalization attempts seen in recent years and is more than recent years combined, according to data compiled by researchers at the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) data project.
“Denaturalization, once a rare phenomenon in federal courts, is now becoming increasingly common,” TRACE researchers said in a June report on the issue. “This increase is expected to continue.”
According to the New York Times, there were an average of 11 denaturalization cases per year between 1990 and 2017.
Who faces denaturalization?
Those on the Justice Department’s pending denaturalization list range from 26-year-old Jinchao Wei of China, convicted of selling military secrets to China, to 76-year-old Mexican Raul Cisneros, who pleaded guilty in California to “lewd and lascivious acts upon a minor.” The DOJ said Cisneros lied about becoming a citizen by claiming he never committed a crime.
Several of the people the DOJ is trying to strip of their citizenship have not been convicted of violent offenses, but have been accused of lying on naturalization forms.
Among them was Walid Osman, a 62-year-old Egyptian who the Justice Ministry said had lied on naturalization forms.
“The DOJ filing is riddled with errors and speculation. Mr. Osman has no criminal record to speak of and will vigorously defend this matter in court,” Osman’s attorney, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, told USA TODAY.
When asked if Osman was in ICE custody, Sandoval-Moshenberg said, “No, he’s a U.S. citizen, and we’re going to fight to keep it that way.”
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