Last May, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents detained and removed several undocumented immigrants from the Island. It is inevitable that they will do so again, this time to possibly even seek naturalized U.S. citizens. They will look for ways to rip that citizenship from them.
Denaturalization is a term rarely heard from federal government officials –– until President Donald Trump. Denaturalization means that an immigrant or refugee who successfully and legally becomes a citizen of the U.S. may be stripped of citizenship if they lied when filling out their citizenship application. Alternatively, a naturalized citizen may lose their status if they later join a subversive or terrorist organization.
Typically, the U.S. goes after people in this category if they have been convicted of committing a war crime, or child rape, or funding terrorism. This has not stopped President Trump from asserting his right to denaturalize foreign-born U.S. citizens, including the new mayor of New York City, Zohran Mamdani, who was born in Uganda, and U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, born in Somalia.
As for denaturalization, according to most authorities, it is a rare move. The National Immigration Forum reports that “between 1990 and 2017, the Department of Justice filed a total of 305 denaturalization cases, an average of 11 per year.” During the Trump administration’s first term, the numbers ticked up to 168, or some 42 per year, and the Biden administration averaged 16 per year, for a total of 64.
Things are now rapidly changing, and the immigrant and refugee population of Martha’s Vineyard may well be added to the list of targets for deportation.
In June last year, the Civil Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a directive “prioritizing denaturalization.” The directive reads as if the targets are, as President Trump has stated repeatedly, “the worst of the worst.” But the Associated Press reports that “the majority of people currently detained by ICE have no criminal convictions. Of those who do, relatively few have been convicted of high-level crimes –– a stark contrast to the chilling nightmare Trump describes to support his border security agenda.”
The DOJ’s directive lists 10 categories for its targeted denaturalization policy, and most of them deal with horrific crimes. These include people who pose dangers to national security, those involved in torture, war crimes, or criminal gangs, human trafficking, drug cartels, and the like.
It is, however, the10th category that is so open-ended that it allows federal officials to do whatever they or the president might wish: “any other cases referred to the Civil Division that the division determines to be sufficiently important to pursue.”
During a recent two-hour interview with the New York Times, President Trump said that denaturalization was rapidly on the way. He specifically mentioned the Somali population in Minneapolis. This was where an ICE agent shot and killed Renee Nicole Good, who was protesting in her car.
The Times reported that Trump said that “his effort was not limited to the Somali community, but declined to specify the other groups of foreign-born American citizens his administration was targeting.” These could and probably may well include those living on Martha’s Vineyard, even if they have legally become U.S. citizens.
This forecast is borne out by new guidance instructions that ICE issued to its field offices this past December. These demand that they “supply Office of Immigration Litigation with 100–200 denaturalization cases per month” in 2026. This means that we may well witness a colossal escalation in the number of denaturalization cases this year, way beyond anything in our lifetimes, perhaps even the history of the country.
In the meantime, the violence continues. In Minneapolis, Renee Good and Alex Pretti were two among a nationwide “five people who have been killed [by ICE agents]. Another seven people have been injured.” Twenty incidents have involved ICE shootings, and another 36 when people were held at gunpoint, since the beginning of the second Trump administration. With polls showing most Americans oppose ICE tactics, the administration now appears to be backing down. But that remains for the future to reveal.
Vigilance is the key. When ICE comes over, we must be ready to protect our neighbors. But beware: Do not provoke ICE agents into drawing their weapons against innocent civilians.
Jack Fruchtman, who lives in Aquinnah, taught constitutional law and politics for many years.
Sheer speculation and imaginary assertions of actions not taken by this administration. Words like ”could” and ”may” all throughout this essay. Please come back after one person on MV is denaturalized. Thank you for including words like ”horrific crimes” and ”worst of the worst” The animus for DJT is palpable.
I largely agree with Andrew Engelman. This piece is driven by speculation rather than evidence. Words like “could,” “may,” and “possibly” appear throughout, but no concrete action is cited — nationally or locally — that supports the dire conclusions being drawn.
The author himself acknowledges that denaturalization has historically been rare and reserved for people involved in war crimes, terrorism, human trafficking, and similar extreme offenses. After conceding that, he pivots to suggest that legally naturalized residents of Martha’s Vineyard are at risk. I see no factual basis for that claim. Assertions are not evidence.
National rhetoric, broad DOJ language, and incidents elsewhere do not justify projecting a looming threat onto this Island. Doing so turns opinion into alarmism. If fear is the goal, speculation works. If accuracy is the goal, it does not.
I am open to facts. Show me a Vineyard resident who has been denaturalized, or even formally targeted absent the “horrific crimes” described here, and I will share the concern. Until then, this reads as hostility toward a political figure driving worst-case scenarios, not as a grounded assessment of reality.
Vigilance matters. Precision matters more.
Mr. Fuchtman,
You make a reference to U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, born in Somalia. With the disclaimer that it’s most difficult to ferret out what is true and what is not true across all media platforms – in principle at least – would you support her denaturalization, imprisonment and subsequent deportation, if “reports” are, in fact, true that she committed immigration fraud by marrying her brother? Or that her own immigration itself to the USA as a child was tied to her father’s fraudulent application by his not disclosing a leadership position in brutal Marxist regime in Somalia, which would have disqualified him? Or if further investigation into her sudden wealth – estimated now at $35 million – has its roots in the well-documented, multi-billion dollar Medicaid fraud in Somali community in Minneapolis? Would any of these claims, if true, warrant her denaturalization, punishment and deportation, in your view?
What a great a great article to keep people on edge, creating more anger and feeding the “fear factor emotion” while maintaining the negative narrative of the administration and law enforcement. All that without giving a single example of any actions taken. Well Done!
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