Even as President Donald Trump's second term has been marked by aggressive anti-immigrant rhetoric, his administration claims its actions are about law and order, not opposition to immigration itself. In February, Trump stated at the State of the Union: "In the past nine months, zero illegal aliens have been admitted to the United States. But we will always allow people to come in legally, people that will love our country and will work hard to maintain our country." However, the administration has been systematically dismantling legal pathways for immigrants to live and work in the United States permanently, including pausing applications for legal permanent residency and citizenship. More troubling, it has begun taking steps to denaturalize citizens—removing citizenship from immigrants who completed the rigorous legal process to earn it.
Legal Immigration Under Attack
Zachary New, a Colorado-based immigration attorney, noted that previous administrations did not target legal immigration in this way. "Even in Trump's first term, it wasn't like this," he said. "This has been an ongoing trend in this administration, particularly the second term."
In December 2025, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a policy memo halting asylum requests broadly and placing a "hold" on immigration processes for individuals from over a dozen countries. In January, the administration added 20 more countries, bringing the total to 39 effectively banned countries. The memos cited national security concerns, claiming the order aimed to "safeguard U.S. citizens from aliens who may seek to commit terrorist acts, pose threats to national security, promote hateful ideologies, or exploit immigration laws for malicious purposes." However, the listed countries are predominantly Black and brown nations, including Somalia and Haiti—countries Trump has referred to as "garbage" and a "shithole," respectively. Iran, Cuba, Afghanistan, Venezuela, and Yemen are also on the list.
Julia Gelatt, associate director of the U.S. immigration policy program at the Migration Policy Institute, explained: "People from those countries have no chance right now of getting citizenship. It's framed as a pause, but there's no indication from the government when the pause might end."
Sharp Decline in Naturalizations
While final numbers for 2025 are not yet available, naturalizations appear to have dropped dramatically. In April 2025, over 88,000 people became U.S. citizens, but by January 2026, only about 33,000 did. Currently, 12 million applications for green cards, work visas, and naturalization are pending—an increase of 2 million since Trump returned to office. In contrast, the backlog grew by over 3 million during President Joe Biden's entire four-year term.
Gelatt noted that USCIS is moving slowly due to staffing cuts under the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and has been re-adjudicating applications from the 39 banned countries. "They seem to be getting more and more behind on processing new applications," she said.
The Department of Homeland Security defended the pauses, stating in a statement to HuffPost: "Verifying identities and personal histories from various countries requires a rigorous process—one that prioritizes the safety of the American people. USCIS has paused adjudications for aliens from President Trump's designated high-risk countries while we work to ensure they are vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible."
Impact on Immigrants
New, who has clients affected by the pause, said the policy has blocked immigrants who had nearly completed the citizenship process. "We've had folks who are scheduled for oath ceremonies to swear their allegiance to the United States. Now, they aren't able to take that final step, they're not able to take advantage of the rights and benefits that come with citizenship."
Denaturalization Efforts Expand
The Department of Justice (DOJ) is planning to file denaturalization cases against at least 384 U.S. citizens for unclear reasons, according to The New York Times. The administration reportedly aims to denaturalize 100 to 200 people per month in 2026—a significant increase from historical averages. Between 1990 and 2017, the federal government filed 305 denaturalization cases; since 2017, 120 more have been filed.
Matthew Tragesser, DOJ deputy director for communications, said: "The Department of Justice is laser-focused on rooting out criminal aliens defrauding the naturalization process. The Department is pursuing the highest volume of denaturalization referrals in history, thanks to close partnerships with DHS and USCIS."
However, denaturalization cases rarely succeed. Between 1979 and 2011, the DOJ stripped only 107 people of citizenship for collaborating with Nazis. In 2025, the administration filed 13 cases and succeeded in stripping eight Americans of their citizenship.
Gelatt explained that the high standard for denaturalization makes success difficult: "The government must prove that somebody deliberately misled about something major, like their identity or a serious crime. These cases go through federal court."
The Grueling Path to Citizenship
Becoming a naturalized U.S. citizen is a strict process. Immigrants must first obtain legal permanent residency (a green card), which requires proving eligibility through family sponsorship, employer sponsorship, or refugee status. After five years (or three if married to a U.S. citizen), they can apply for citizenship. The application includes a civics test, a demonstration of "good moral character," and extensive background checks. The process can take decades for some.
Naturalized citizens have the same rights as birthright citizens, including voting, traveling internationally, accessing federal benefits, and sponsoring family members. Revoking citizenship or blocking its acquisition severely limits participation in public life. "Losing citizenship means that somebody's not able to fully participate in our political system," Gelatt said.
Historical Context
Brendan Shanahan, a Yale researcher specializing in citizenship history, noted that restricting citizenship has been used as a political tool against marginalized groups. The Expatriation Act of 1907 stripped American women of citizenship when they married noncitizen men, a policy repealed in 1922 except for women marrying men ineligible for citizenship due to origin. The Chinese Exclusion Act prohibited Chinese immigration and citizenship until 1943, and similar restrictions on other Asian countries lasted until 1952 and 1965.
Shanahan said these histories tie into political motivations to punish immigrants, "either for individual instances of fraud or more broadly, target people because of political beliefs, questions of supposed dual loyalties, or simply racism."
The Trump administration has also challenged birthright citizenship in the Supreme Court case Trump v. Barbara, arguing that children of undocumented immigrants do not owe "allegiance" to the United States and thus are not entitled to citizenship.
Dire Consequences
Denaturalization leads to loss of passports and the ability to travel internationally with a guarantee of return. Those stripped of citizenship may lose all legal status and face deportation. "There could be further attempts to take away all of their legal status and deport them," Gelatt said.
For those whose applications are paused, the uncertainty may force self-deportation—a policy the administration has promoted. New said: "One of the things that folks are forced to do when they're in these pauses is make a decision on if they're going to remain in the United States or if they're going to leave." Expired temporary documents leave no legal option to stay.
Even if the pause is lifted, the damage is lasting. "It's not like this is a light switch where you just flip processing back on," New added. Gelatt concluded: "This administration has shown itself to be skeptical that any immigration brings any value to the United States. Limiting the opportunities available to immigrants of all kinds is part of sending a message around the world that the United States is not eager to accept more immigrants or welcome them into the fabric of the country."
