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Time of India
07-07-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Trump's DOJ ramps up push to strip naturalized Americans of citizenship
The US Justice Department is intensifying efforts to revoke citizenship from naturalized Americans, prioritizing cases involving serious crimes or fraud. This initiative, impacting nearly 25 million individuals, has sparked legal and constitutional concerns. Critics argue that civil denaturalization, with its lower burden of proof and lack of government-funded counsel, risks creating unequal classes of citizenship. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads The US Department of Justice has directed its civil division to expand efforts to revoke the citizenship of naturalized Americans , especially in cases involving serious crimes or fraud. According to a June 11 internal memo reviewed by NPR, the department has made denaturalization one of its top five enforcement Attorney General Brett A. Shumate wrote, "The Civil Division shall prioritize and maximally pursue denaturalization proceedings in all cases permitted by law and supported by the evidence."The initiative, which targets individuals who were not born in the US, comes as nearly 25 million immigrants hold naturalized status, according to 2023 government policy shift has already seen results. On June 13, a judge ordered the revocation of US citizenship from Elliott Duke, a military veteran originally from the UK, who had been convicted for distributing child sexual abuse material. Duke, who uses they/them pronouns, admitted to engaging in the illegal activity before obtaining US citizenship. NPR reported that Duke, now stateless, had relinquished UK citizenship during the naturalization process and struggled to secure legal representation during the civil use of civil litigation — rather than criminal prosecution — has raised legal and constitutional concerns. Cassandra Robertson, a law professor at Case Western Reserve University, told NPR, "Stripping Americans of citizenship through civil litigation violates due process and infringes on the rights guaranteed by the 14th Amendment." She added that civil denaturalization carries a lower burden of proof and does not provide the right to government-funded legal say this approach revives tactics last used extensively during the McCarthy era and risks creating unequal classes of citizenship. 'It is kind of, in a way, trying to create a second class of US citizens,' said Sameera Hafiz of the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, speaking to such as Hans von Spakovsky from the Heritage Foundation, defended the move. 'Anyone who has abused the privilege of the opportunity of becoming a US citizen should have that citizenship revoked,' he told NPR. He dismissed due process concerns by stating that civil proceedings do not require taxpayer-funded scholars warned that the DOJ memo's language grants wide discretion to pursue denaturalization in broad categories such as national security violations or government-related fraud. Steve Lubet, professor emeritus at Northwestern University, told NPR, 'Many of the categories are so vague as to be meaningless.'The practice of denaturalization was significantly curtailed after a 1967 Supreme Court ruling, but efforts resumed during the Obama administration under Operation Janus. Under former President Donald Trump 's first term, the process expanded further, and with Trump back in office, the policy is now being aggressively pursued once remains skeptical of how many cases will meet the government's criteria. 'If they're really intending maximal enforcement,' she told NPR, 'they're going to end up focusing on people who have not committed any serious infraction.'The Department of Justice and the Trump administration declined NPR's requests for comment.
Yahoo
24-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Mobile, Baldwin County health care group to pay $3 million settlement — what we know
MOBILE, Ala. (WKRG) — Saad Healthcare — with locations in Mobile and Baldwin counties — has agreed to pay a $3 million settlement after allegations were made claiming the group violated the False Claims Act by billing Medicare for ineligible hospice patients, according to the United States Department of Justice. Mobile woman dies as two pickup trucks collide head-on Sunday morning According to a DOJ news release, the company filed claims 'for the care of hospice patients in Alabama who were ineligible for the Medicare hospice benefits because they were not terminally ill.' Hospice care is considered 'end-of-life care' and is intended to make terminally ill patients comfortable after they stop receiving treatment to cure their illness. 'Medicare patients are considered to be terminally ill and hospice-eligible when they have a life expectancy of six months or less if their illness runs its normal course,' read the release. According to the release, the allegations were made between 2013 and 2020. DOJ officials said Saad officials knew the patients were ineligible for the Medicare hospice benefits but submitted the claims anyway. 'Respectful and appropriate end-of-life care is the crux of the hospice benefit under Medicare,' said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the DOJ's Civil Division. 'The Department will hold accountable those who exploit this benefit for their own gain.' Former Saad employees Melissa Wolff and Whitney Sims filed the lawsuit under the whistleblower provision of the False Claims Act. They will receive $540,000 in connection with the settlement, according to the release. Fairhope man dies in Saturday night motorcycle crash 'Caring for terminally ill people is a responsibility the United States and the Medicare program take seriously,' said Acting U.S. Attorney Keith A. Jones for the Southern District of Alabama. 'Patients and taxpayers deserve not to be cheated, and the Department of Justice will continue to protect them.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
