Denaturalization

In each feature of this sovereign friendship (exception, improbable and random unicity, metapolitical transcendence, disproportion, infinite dissymmetry, denaturalization, etc.), it might be tempting to recognize a rupture with Greek philía – a testamentary rupture, as some would hasten to conclude, a palaeo- or neo-testamentary rupture.

The Justice Department has long pursued denaturalization on the basis of fraud. A 2016 Homeland Security Department Inspector General report found that at least 858 people had been given US citizenship despite having been deported under a different identity, because their fingerprints had not been in the system.

Still, denaturalizations are rare and can only occur in federal court. The Justice Department has filed 228 civil denaturalization cases since 2008, according to a DOJ official. Of the 228 cases, 94 were filed over roughly the last three years, indicating a recent jump in filings, the official said.