The Daily Fuckup

The Justice Department said on May 8 that it filed civil denaturalization complaints in federal courts against 12 naturalized individuals. The agency says the cases involve allegations that include material support for a terrorist group, war crimes, espionage, sexual abuse of a minor, and concealment or misrepresentation of material facts during the naturalization process. DOJ said the claims are allegations only and that no court has yet revoked citizenship in any of the cases.

In its release, DOJ identified the cases as separate filings brought in various districts, not as a single proceeding. The department said the legal theory is the same one it uses in denaturalization cases generally: citizenship can be revoked if it was illegally procured or obtained through concealment of a material fact or willful misrepresentation. The complaints, DOJ said, are aimed at people it believes should not have been naturalized because of what they allegedly hid or lied about when they sought citizenship.

The same day, DOJ also filed a separate civil denaturalization complaint against Victor Manuel Rocha, a convicted Cuban spy. In that case, the department said Rocha began spying for Cuba before he naturalized in 1978 and later lied about his background and affiliations during the naturalization process. DOJ said the complaint seeks revocation of his citizenship, but that claim, too, remains an allegation until a court rules.

The filings put denaturalization cases back in the spotlight, but the legal posture is straightforward: these are civil complaints, not completed revocations. Each case still has to be proved in court, and the government has to meet the statutory standard before any citizenship can be stripped away.