The United States government has moved to step up efforts to revoke citizenship from certain naturalised Americans, following the release of a Justice Department memo instructing federal attorneys to prioritise denaturalisation cases against individuals who committed particular crimes or misrepresented facts during the naturalisation process. According to The Guardian’s report on Monday, the memo — dated June 11 — urges civil proceedings against those who “illegally procured” citizenship or did so through “concealment of a material fact or by willful misrepresentation.” In contrast to criminal trials, people facing civil denaturalisation are not entitled to legal representation, and the government’s burden of proof is lower. At the heart of this push, the report notes, are roughly 25 million naturalised U.S. citizens who were born abroad, based on 2023 data. The memo also outlines 10 priority categories for denaturalisation. According to the document, the focus will be on individuals involved in war crimes, extrajudicial killings, serious human rights abuses, or those convicted of crimes who still pose a threat to the U.S., including gang members and other naturalised criminals. The Justice Department’s civil rights division has also been tasked with advancing several of former President Trump’s policy objectives — such as dismantling diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives within government and ending transgender healthcare programmes. Meanwhile, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has reported its 13th in-custody death for the fiscal year starting in October 2024, already exceeding the 12 deaths recorded during the entire previous fiscal year, which ended in September 2024. Last Friday, Jim Ryan, president of the University of Virginia, resigned amid a Justice Department civil rights division probe into the university’s DEI programmes and its use of race and ethnicity in scholarships and other initiatives. In a separate move, the Justice Department recently filed lawsuits against 15 U.S. district attorneys in Maryland over an order blocking the immediate deportation of migrants appealing their removal. Reports suggest the civil rights division is facing internal upheaval, as its historical mission to tackle racial discrimination is being overtaken by new priorities tied to presidential executive orders. According to a recent National Public Radio report, around 250 attorneys — about 70% of the division’s legal staff — are believed to have departed between January and the end of May. The memo’s renewed focus on denaturalisation has already had concrete effects: at least one individual has reportedly lost their U.S. citizenship in recent weeks.