AILSA CHANG, HOST:
In December, NPR reported that the Trump administration is setting quotas to denaturalize up to 200 citizens per month. An immigration official told us that is part of a larger effort to crack down on people who may have lied or misrepresented themselves in the naturalization process.
So how can naturalized citizens navigate this moment legally? What rights do they have if they are approached by an ICE agent? Well, Veronica Garcia is a senior staff attorney at the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, and she says this push by the Trump administration has many people concerned that they might lose their status.
VERONICA GARCIA: There's definitely fear in the community that they will get their naturalization stripped from them.
CHANG: Garcia says a person can legally lose their U.S. citizenship if fraud is proven. When we spoke earlier, I started our conversation by asking her how the federal government starts the process for denaturalizing a U.S. citizen.
GARCIA: There has to be a case opened by a U.S. attorney. It has to go to a federal judge. And for example, it has to be something pretty egregious, that somebody lied about the requirement to become a U.S. citizen - right? - and presented facts that weren't, in fact, true.
CHANG: Can I just ask, how common is it generally for people to be stripped of their U.S. citizenship?
GARCIA: You know, historically, it has not been that common. There's been a handful of cases. In the last maybe 10, 15 years, we've seen an uptick, but that uptick has been maybe, like,20 cases comparatively, right?
CHANG: Certainly not 200 per month.
GARCIA: No, no. Large-scale denaturalization, we have not seen.
CHANG: So for people out there who are U.S. citizens who believe that they obtained their U.S. citizenship lawfully, let's talk about some practical advice that they can follow as they prepare for a potential denaturalize process being started against them. First of all, some families have been talking about just carrying proof of their citizenship with them at all times. Is that necessary? And if so, or if it's advisable to, what counts as proof of citizenship?
GARCIA: So legally, a U.S. citizen is not required to carry proof of status. If they are afraid of being racially profiled by ICE agents, as we're seeing an uptake of ICE activity in different cities throughout the United States, U.S. citizens can think of carrying a copy of their passport or their passport card. But it's important to remind individuals that if they are a U.S. citizen, an ICE agent cannot say that they are no longer U.S. citizens, right? It's a longer legal process.
CHANG: Absolutely. But let's say they are now in a confrontation with ICE. Someone who is a U.S. citizen is being confronted by an ICE officer. That officer arrests or detains them. Just remind us, what are their key rights that they should remember in that particular situation?
GARCIA: Yeah, so a U.S. citizen, just like everybody else in the United States, regardless of status, have basic constitutional rights, right? They have a right to remain silent. They have a right to hire an attorney for their legal process. They have a right to not agree to a search of their person or their property. And they have a right to not sign any documentation presented to them. So if a U.S. citizen comes across and is questioned by an ICE official, they have a right to ask if they're free to go. And if things are escalating and U.S. citizen feels like they need to prove what their status is, they could show proof of that - right? - either through a passport card or if they have a copy of their passport.
CHANG: OK. What if you're someone who is a citizen again, but you're afraid that, aw, maybe I made a small mistake on an old immigration form. Or maybe I'm someone who does receive public benefits, and there is record of that, obviously. Are you more at risk right now for being targeted by ICE, you think?
GARCIA: So first off, I just want to clarify that a U.S. citizen has a right to receive public benefit. So as long as you're eligible for the benefit, you have a right to receive it, use it, do with it what needs to happen, right? So that should not go into any sort of case against your U.S. citizenship or whether they can denaturalize you or not.
If someone does have questions about their own process or questions about what denaturalization could look like, generally, I would suggest that they go and speak to an attorney, right? So make an appointment, go speak to them, ask questions about what the process might be. If you have any lingering questions about your own process, you could definitely talk to someone about that.
CHANG: As you're preparing - over the next several months, maybe the next few years - to see more and more of these cases, what are you picturing in your head? What are you preparing yourself for right now?
GARCIA: You know, if we are at a place where we're seeing hundreds of cases of denaturalization and attorneys having to prepare to fight denaturalization cases at such a high volume, then I think we will be in a future that has bigger problems than how many people are being denaturalized. We might be in a future where rights seem to be a thought of the past, and I think we were looking at a society that - more people should be worried than just if you're a naturalized citizen or not.
CHANG: Veronica Garcia is a senior staff attorney at the Immigrant Legal Resource Center. Thank you very much.
GARCIA: Thank you for having me.
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