Coming attractions
Being an American once conferred a level of security — or at least perceived security. People who arrived on these shores looked forward to gaining their citizenship. Being a citizen meant being able to participate in the political process. It also meant no longer having to renew a green card or a work visa. The U.S. was no longer your contingent foster home, but a permanent one.
I remember clearing customs once on a return from Europe and having the customs officer hand back my passport and say, “Welcome home.”
Then came Donald Trump and Project 2025. James Greenberg writes at his Substack that the Trump 2.0 has stripped away the security that comes with citizenship. Oh, for joy.
Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate on June 11 signed a directive reclassifying denaturalization (revocation of U.S. citizenship). Greenberg writes that it authorizes federal attorneys to “prioritize and maximally pursue denaturalization proceedings in all cases permitted by law.”
He continues:
That includes not only fraud in the naturalization process but a broader list of offenses: terrorism, gang affiliation, financial crimes, and serious felonies committed after naturalization, even if they were not disclosed at the time.
Historically, denaturalization has been rare, reserved mostly for cases involving fraud or war crimes. That began to change under Trump’s first term. This memo signals not only a continuation of that trend but a significant expansion.
Nearly 25 million naturalized citizens now face heightened scrutiny, not just for how they became citizens, but for what they have done since. The implications are not theoretical. At least one person has already lost their citizenship under the expanded guidelines—a naturalized citizen who had concealed a child pornography conviction from over a decade ago.
These cases unfold in civil court, not criminal. There is no jury, no right to a public defender, and no requirement of a new charge. Citizenship can be lost without a criminal trial.
This shift marks something deeper: the transformation of citizenship from a settled legal status to a conditional one, subject to the discretion of the state.
The flag-humper promised to make America great again (whatever that marketing means). What he’s done for nearly 25 million Americans is make their citizenship contingent on remaining in his good graces. Their “great again” means looking over their shoulders and keeping their heads down. Big Brother is watching. Freedom, huh?
For those keeping score, Greenberg adds:
We’ve seen this pattern before, not only in U.S. history but in darker chapters abroad. In 1935, Nazi Germany’s Reich Citizenship Law reclassified Jews as non-citizens and enabled mass denaturalizations under the pretext that they were foreign elements. That legal erasure paved the way for what followed.
This isn’t a comparison of regimes. It’s an alert to method. Stripping citizenship may appear administrative, but it functions as a political tool. It redefines who belongs. And when belonging is linked to behavior, belief, or dissent, exclusion becomes a form of punishment. The state doesn’t need to imprison its critics if it can convince them to remain silent.
This shift did not happen in isolation. It follows a clear and familiar sequence, rooted in a politics of narrowing inclusion.
German Lutheran pastor Martin Niemöller’s “First They Came” is already replaying in your head. I won’t repeat it.
I ran across this warning this morning from former National Security Council member, Fiona Hill. It was April. People who sought refuge in the United States and became citizens now find themselves uncertain about their futures. Funny, so do I.
“There is a moral hazard embedded in this logic. If rights can be revoked, they are no longer rights. Protest becomes dangerous. Silence becomes a form of self-protection,” Greenberg cautions.
But that’s the point of purging the civil service, the FBI, and the military, isn’t it? Protection fot the paranoid in seats of power means insecurity for the rest of us.
God bless America.
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