They’re Coming for Our Citizenship—And I Refuse to Stay Silent

Trump has weaponized the DOJ to denaturalized US citizens and deport them

I am a proud immigrant to the United States, and a proud naturalized citizen. Like at least 25 million other naturalized citizens, I am proud to contribute to this nation’s rich history and progress. But today, under Trump’s regime, my citizenship—and the citizenship of 25 million naturalized Americans—is under direct threat. This isn’t just a revival of the McCarthyism extremism of the mid-twentieth century. This threatens to elevate that fascism to the next level. Let’s Address This.

The Trump DOJ Memo

The Department of Justice just issued a memo directing its attorneys to prioritize denaturalization—that’s right, stripping Americans of their citizenship. This is no exaggeration or political hyperbole. This is happening right now. The DOJ has broadened the power of U.S. attorneys to seek denaturalization in criminal cases, no matter how long someone has been a citizen, no matter how long they’ve served this country, raised families, paid taxes, and contributed to their communities. But it isn’t just about “criminal cases,” it goes beyond. This is the most concerning part about the memo. It states that the DOJ may finally pursue denaturalization for:

Any other cases referred to the Civil Division that the Division determines to be sufficiently important to pursue. These categories are intended to guide the Civil Division in prioritizing which cases to pursue; however, these categories do not limit the Civil Division from pursuing any particular case, nor are they listed in a particular order of importance. Further, the Civil Division retains the discretion to pursue cases outside of these categories as it determines appropriate. The assignment of denaturalization cases may be made across sections or units based on experience, subject-matter expertise, and the overall needs of the Civil Division.

What does any of this mean? It’s anyone’s guess. This is a catch all statement that effectively says that the DOJ can simply pursue anyone for denaturalization that “it determines sufficiently important to pursue.”

What is sufficiently important? Again, who knows. Is it a naturalized citizen who, like Mahmoud Khalil, peacefully spoke out against the United States funding genocide in Palestine? Sure, why not. Is it a naturalized citizen who, like Rümeysa Öztürk, wrote an OpEd criticizing a university for not divesting from the arms trade? Very likely. Is it a naturalized citizen who, like Qasim Rashid, calls Donald Trump an open racist who is advancing fascism in America? According to this memo, most certainly.

It could mean any of those things on the whim of the DOJ — and that’s fundamentally the problem. That is not due process of law. That is autocratic rule.

So let us be clear: denaturalization is not about safety. It’s about control.

And it’s part of Trump’s continued strategy to expand his control over basic human rights and civil liberties of anyone not white. First, Trump tried to ban Muslims. Then he caged Latino children. Then he trafficked Black and brown legal residents and U.S. citizens to torture camps in other countries. Then he tried to end birthright citizenship. Now, he’s aiming to strip citizenship from people like me—naturalized citizens—using a weaponized Department of Justice. It will get worse as he will soon attempt once more to strip birthright citizenship altogether. And it will not stop there either.

And again, we’ve seen this before. As the US Holocaust Memorial Museum reports:

Beginning in 1933, the German Government revoked German citizenship for tens of thousands of German Jews as well as persons seen as political opponents. This affected not only persons resident in Germany, but also persons who had left Germany and were resident in other countries. It took similar action against persons resident in parts of Czechoslovakia which had been annexed. These public actions, totaling nearly 90,000 names of persons and firms, mixed, whose property had been seized by the Nazi-led German government were published in the Deutscher Reichsanzeiger, the official newspaper of the government. Most of these were listed under the category as having had their citizenship revoked, usually either due to being Jewish, political opponents of the Nazis, and/or having emigrated out of the Reich.

The fact is that this was never about "legal immigration." It was never about "law and order." It was always about banning Black and brown immigrants. It was always about building a tiered system of citizenship, where the naturalized are second-class and disposable. The “again” in MAGA always stood for a return to Jim Crow America (which I remind you helped inspire the Nazi miscegenation laws), and every subsequent policy of the Trump regime demonstrates this observable fact. Stripping naturalized Americans of citizenship is a direct violation of the Constitution and everything this country is supposed to stand for. Once the government has the power to revoke citizenship based on political expediency, it’s no longer a democracy—it’s a regime. I don’t know if they’ll come after me next. But what I do know is that I won’t back down.

My Story

My late father immigrated to the United States in 1977 with $30 in his pocket. A decade later, the rest of my family and I were fortunate to immigrate here in 1987. We earned our place in this country through a years-long legal process that required background checks, interviews, exams, and an oath to uphold the U.S. Constitution. Some two decades after becoming a U.S. Citizen in 1992, I graduated with honors from law school and began my career as a human rights lawyer. I have since spent my life defending human rights, civil liberties, and the idea that America should be a place where justice is more than a slogan—it’s a practice. And now, per the latest DOJ memo, citizens like myself and tens of millions more face the real possibility of denaturalization.

I will continue to speak truth to power, continue to expose injustice, and continue to fight for a future where no one fears losing their place in the country they call home. But I can’t do this alone.

🛑 If you believe in justice, join me.
🛑 If you believe in human rights, support this work.
🛑 If you believe in the Constitution, share this message.

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