What is denaturalization? DOJ seeks to revoke Florida citizenships

• The Justice Department under President Trump has increased its use of denaturalization to revoke citizenship.
• Denaturalization cases have risen from about 25 annually in Trump's first term to over 400 so far in his second.
• Denaturalization is a legal process where a federal court revokes a naturalized citizen's status, often for serious crimes.

The Justice Department under President Donald Trump is amping up efforts to strip away naturalized U.S. citizens' statuses. The once-rare move is becoming a powerful weapon in the Trump administration's arsenal against immigrants it deems dangerous.

Trump began using the process against naturalized citizens in his first term, averaging about 25 cases annually. In his second term, about 400 citizens have been targeted so far, the New York Times reported in April. In May, the Justice Department moved to strip a dozen people of their naturalized citizenship. Another 17 were added in June. Between 1990 and 2017, there were only a handful of denaturalization cases per year.

Several of the latest citizens were in Florida.

The DOJ said it filed cases in multiple U.S. districts against naturalized citizens accused of criminal offenses, including sexual abuse, wire fraud, and drug distribution. However, critics worry that the grounds for denaturalization under a perceived anti-immigration administration could be expanded to include a broader range of reasons, including minor infractions and paperwork errors.

What is denaturalization?

Non-citizens or lawful permanent residents (also known as green card holders) who meet specific requirements may become naturalized U.S. citizens through a legal process that includes an application, a great deal of documentation, an interview, testimonials supporting a "good moral character," English and civics tests, and taking an oath of allegiance.

A naturalized individual is considered a full citizen of the United States with every benefit, right, and expectation of that title, including voting, obtaining a passport, federal employment, and protection from deportation, according to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Denaturalization is the process by which the federal government can revoke a naturalized U.S. citizen's status. It's not an immediate decision. The U.S. Attorney’s Office must file a civil or criminal case in federal court, and a federal judge must rule after a trial where both sides are represented.

Historically, the DOJ predominantly targeted people accused of serious crimes, and, even then, denaturalization cases were generally reserved for those who posed credible threats to public safety or national security, committed war crimes or crimes against humanity, or committed felonies before or during the naturalization process without disclosing them.

Trump's DOJ cites 'highest volume denaturalization referrals in history'

During Trump's first four years, 102 denaturalization cases were filed, according to the Justice Department. More than 400 have been identified so far in his second term.

The DOJ has renewed its focus on denaturalization as part of Trump's anti-immigration push. In June, the Justice Department issued a memo to expand denaturalization priorities under the department’s civil division to include individuals who engaged in human trafficking, various forms of fraud, or any other cases the division "determines to be sufficiently important to pursue."

Have any U.S. citizens been denaturalized in Florida?

In recent months, the Justice Department has filed civil denaturalization complaints against the following Floridians. In each case, the DOJ said the individuals failed to disclose prior criminal activity during the naturalization process or actively concealed it.

• Jean Claude Alfred, A Haitian native convicted by a Florida jury in 1996 of sexual abuse of a minor. The abuse began the year before he was naturalized, the DOJ said.
• Fernando Adrian Moio Bartolini,  a native of Argentina and Windermere resident who was convicted of committing passport fraud in 2013 for stating on his application that he was born in Cuba.
• Leidys Delmas Garcia, a Cuban native convicted of conspiracy to commit health care fraud by establishing and operating 30 clinics in Florida that fraudulently billed insurance for nearly $37 million for physical therapy services that were not medically necessary and/or never provided.
• Alec Nasreddine Kassir, a Lebanese native and Miami resident who pleaded guilty to passport fraud in 2018 and admitted he had separated from his U.S. spouse nine years earlier. Kassir was also convicted of conspiring to commit money laundering.
• Andrea Marroquin, a Colombian native who pleaded guilty in 2019 to wire and bank fraud and money laundering in Miami. Court records showed she used her inheritance from her father's drug trafficking money to finance fraudulent real estate transactions.
• Federico Michel Fermin, a native of the Dominican Republic who was convicted in 2011 of conspiracy to distribute more than $1.7 million worth of prescription drugs wholesale in Florida without a license.
• Milagros Marileisis Acosta Torres, a Cuban native who pleaded guilty in 2020 to conspiring with her husband and three other co-conspirators, who worked at the Miccosukee Casino, to defraud the company of $5,300,000 using fake credit vouchers.

According to Justice Department releases and news reports, some of the naturalized U.S. citizens with Florida connections who have recently had their citizenship revoked include:

• Joff Stenn Wroy Philossaint, a Haitian native and Fort Lauderdale resident convicted in 2023 for defrauding COVID-19 relief programs out of millions of dollars. He was granted citizenship in 2021, but officials say he concealed his involvement in the scheme during the sworn naturalization interview.
• Melchor Munoz, A Mexican native who applied for citizenship in 2009. He pleaded guilty to drug trafficking in 2012 for a period that began before his naturalization, according to the Justice Department. His citizenship was revoked by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida.
• Vladimir Volgaev, a Ukrainian native accused of concealing and misrepresenting his involvement in a conspiracy to smuggle over a thousand firearms components out of the United States to ship to foreign markets.
• Mirelys Cabrera Diaz, a Cuban native and Hialeah resident convicted in 2019 of conspiring to commit health care fraud, sentenced to 29 months in prison and ordered to pay restitution of over $6 million.

How many naturalized citizens are there in the US? Miami leads US

There are approximately 26 million naturalized citizens as of 2024, according to federal data. That year, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said it welcomed over 818,000 new citizens.

Florida was second after California for the most naturalized citizens in 2024, adding 93,300, according to USCIS, and Miami was the top city in the country with 17,700 new naturalized citizens.

According to the American Immigrant Council, there were nearly five million immigrant residents in the Sunshine State in 2023 (roughly 22% of the state's population), and more than 55% of them are naturalized citizens.

C. A. Bridges is a journalist for the USA TODAY Network-Florida's service journalism Connect team. You can get all of Florida’s best content directly in your inbox each weekday by signing up for the free newsletter, Florida TODAY.