Part of executive order focuses on law to denaturalize immigrant citizens

RIO GRANDE VALLEY, Texas (ValleyCentral) — President Trump signed several executive orders during his first days related to illegal immigration. In one of those orders, the President directed immigration officials to, “Ensure the devotion of adequate resources to identify and take appropriate action for offenses described in 8 U.S.C. 1451.”

This is a section within the Title 8 protocols.

The Office of the Law Revision Council maintains a website where the general and permanent laws of the United States are consolidated, called the United States Code. Title 8 of the code deals with Aliens and Nationality. U.S.C. 1451 of that section addresses the revocation of naturalization if it was "illegally procured" or "procured by concealment of a material fact or by willful misrepresentation". 

That executive order is titled, Protecting the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats. Trump signed the order on his first day in office.

Immigration attorney Ricardo Ramirez explained, “If there’s grounds to prosecute somebody for not obtaining their naturalization properly, then there’s a law on the books that exists to denaturalize those persons. Essentially strip away their US citizenship.”

Ramirez said one example of a willful representation would be a sham marriage. When a non-citizen marries an American citizen for the purpose of getting some sort of recognized legal status in the country.

Ramirez said if investigators from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services suspect a marriage wasn't legitimate, agents can open an investigation.

“The way they can trace back a citizen back to how they got married and all that…they came to the country illegally, whatever. They can tie all that back and find something there to go forward on,” Ramirez said.

Ramirez said this policy was also invoked during the first Trump administration, but he said, it didn't gain traction. Perhaps because there was a learning curve during the transition, and when the COVID pandemic arrived many other issues were moved to the back burner.

Ramirez said, “We could anticipate a large increase in these types of proceedings. Individuals in those proceedings, like I said, have the right to defend themselves. They can hire an attorney. They can demand evidence. They can call witnesses. They can have a full trial.”

Ramirez said individuals can be charged criminally, but these types of cases are typically handled in civil trials where the burden of proof is a much lower standard.

He said that when becoming a naturalized citizen, there are certain conditions applicants must meet, such as being a lawful permanent resident for five years and having good moral character. If there are any questions about whether or not someone got their naturalization by not meeting those elements, USCIS could potentially open an investigation.

Ramirez said an attempt to open a significant number of denaturalization cases would be incredibly expensive and time-consuming.

“I think the way that could work out practically, is him making some sort of internal department, within DHS, that is solely dedicated to that. USCIS right now is overworked and understaffed. For them to have that much more work, it wouldn’t be feasible,” Ramirez said.

He suggested that the allocation of resources means more manpower would be needed. The administration could create special task forces or sub-departments to handle any sizable increase in these types of cases.

Ramirez said denaturalization cases are incredibly rare. He estimated that between 2017 through 2021, there were about 11 of them nationwide. It's still too early to determine if the inclusion of this language in a day-one executive order signals whether or not denaturalization efforts will find a renewed priority in the Trump administration.