{"id":508,"date":"2026-05-11T03:51:54","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T03:51:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailypakistannews.com\/?p=508"},"modified":"2026-05-11T03:51:54","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T03:51:54","slug":"us-widens-drive-to-revoke-citizenship-of-foreign-born-americans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailypakistannews.com\/?p=508","title":{"rendered":"US widens drive to revoke citizenship of foreign-born Americans"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u2022 Indian businessman among a dozen facing denaturalisation
\n\u2022 Justice Dept targets naturalised citizens over fraud, terror links
\n\u2022 Civil liberties groups warn of uncertainty, fear in immigrant communities<\/strong><\/p>\n

WASHINGTON: The Trump administration is widening its drive to revoke the citizenship of foreign-born Americans, filing a new wave of denaturalisation cases against individuals accused of fraud, terrorism links and serious financial crimes, the Justice Department announced on Friday.<\/p>\n

The US Department of Justice said it had initiated proceedings against roughly a dozen naturalised citizens, including an Indian-origin businessman accused of defrauding investors of millions of dollars.<\/p>\n

Officials argued the individuals either concealed material facts during their immigration proceedings or engaged in conduct that would have disqualified them from obtaining US citizenship.<\/p>\n

Among the cases cited by authorities is that of Debashis Ghosh, a native of India, accused of orchestrating an investment fraud scheme involving approximately $2.5 million.<\/p>\n

According to the Justice Department, Ghosh allegedly conspired to defraud investors before becoming a US citizen and continued the scheme after his naturalisation by misrepresenting the location and handling of investor funds.<\/p>\n

The broader crackdown also targets individuals accused of terrorism-related activity, war crimes, and firearms trafficking.<\/p>\n

The cases were filed by the Justice Department\u2019s Office of Immigration Litigation in coordination with US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and federal prosecutors in multiple states, officials said.<\/p>\n

Denaturalisation \u2014 the process of revoking citizenship obtained through naturalisation \u2014 is a rare and legally demanding procedure that requires action in federal court.<\/p>\n

Between 1990 and 2017, US authorities filed just over 300 such cases, averaging about 11 annually, making the current expansion notable in scale.<\/p>\n

The government faces a high legal threshold, as it must demonstrate either intentional misrepresentation or the concealment of material facts during the naturalisation process.<\/p>\n

The Trump administration, however, has increasingly treated the tool as part of a broader immigration enforcement strategy. Officials argue that citizenship obtained through deception \u201cundermines the integrity of the immigration system\u201d and warrants revocation when proven in court.<\/p>\n

While the latest cases did not include individuals from Pakistan or other South Asian nations, the inclusion of an Indian-origin defendant is likely to resonate across the region\u2019s large diaspora in the United States.<\/p>\n

For these communities, the move is seen less as country-specific targeting and more as a component of tightening US immigration enforcement for all naturalised citizens.<\/p>\n

The announcement comes amid a wider strengthening of immigration mechanisms, including enhanced background reviews and the re-examination of historical files for potential fraud.<\/p>\n

Civil liberties advocates have previously warned that expanded denaturalisation efforts could create uncertainty within immigrant communities and discourage eligible residents from pursuing citizenship.<\/p>\n

Officials did not release figures on how many of the proceedings may lead to criminal prosecution or deportation.<\/p>\n

Published in Dawn, May 11th, 2026<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2022 Indian businessman among a dozen facing denaturalisation \u2022 Justice Dept targets naturalised citizens over fraud, terror links \u2022 Civil liberties groups warn of uncertainty, fear in immigrant communities WASHINGTON: The Trump administration is widening its drive to revoke the citizenship of foreign-born Americans, filing a new wave of denaturalisation cases against individuals accused of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":509,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-508","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pakistan-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailypakistannews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailypakistannews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailypakistannews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailypakistannews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=508"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailypakistannews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailypakistannews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/509"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailypakistannews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=508"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailypakistannews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=508"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailypakistannews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=508"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}