You are a proud naturalized United States citizen and you love this country with all your heart. It is your home and you are living the American dream. Then one day, you are arrested or receive a letter from the U.S. Department of Justice notifying you of their intent to take away your U.S. citizenship. Will you go to prison? Will you be deported?

Denaturalization can either be based on illegal procurement of citizenship or concealment of a material fact or willful misrepresentation.

Illegal procurement of citizenship means that the individual gained citizenship through fraud and is a federal criminal charge.

Concealment of a material fact or willful misrepresentation means that you willfully concealed or misrepresented facts on prior immigration applications. Examples of this include, but not limited to, failing to disclose prior aliases, criminal charges, orders of removal, and prior petitions to USCIS (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services). The motive behind failing to disclose this information generally is because the information would hurt the applicant’s chances of obtaining a visa, green card, or citizenship.

Other more uncommon grounds for denaturalization include failure to testify at a congressional hearing, membership in subversive groups, such as the Nazi Party or Al Qaeda, or a dishonorable discharge from the military.

Denaturalization is the process by which the United States government strips someone of their citizenship. Only naturalized citizens can lose their citizenship through denaturalization. People who are born in the United States are given citizenship by birthright which cannot be taken away because birthright citizenship is guaranteed by the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution. Once someone is denaturalized, they are then subject to being deported or removed from the United States. While denaturalization affects someone’s immigration status, denaturalization cases are tried in federal district court, not immigration court. This is an area of law that has become a greater focus in recent years for the federal government. The Department of Justice has recently created a new Denaturalization Section within their civil division whose focus will be on investigating and litigating denaturalization cases. Expect the full force of the federal government in investigating and litigating denaturalization cases.

Denaturalization can either be a civil or criminal process depending on the nature of the government’s allegations. The civil process involves the U.S. government filing a complaint in Federal District Court. The individual, or his or her attorney, then has 60 days to file a response to the complaint. The government has a high burden in proving denaturalization. The law requires the government to prove its claims of denaturalization by clear, convincing, and unequivocal evidence.

Denaturalization can also result in a federal criminal charge if it involves a false claim to citizenship or fraud in obtaining citizenship. Criminal charges must be proven in every criminal case beyond a reasonable doubt. A false claim to citizenship is one of the most serious immigration violations, as it imposes a mandatory permanent ban on entering the United States and there are no available waivers.

There are four legal reasons that the United States government would pursue a denaturalization case against a naturalized citizen. They are:

Lying or concealing information on naturalization paperwork


Membership in a subversive or terrorist group


Refusal to testify in front of congress


Dishonorable discharge from the military

The government has the burden of proving denaturalization by clear, convincing, unequivocal evidence in a civil proceeding and beyond a reasonable doubt in a criminal proceeding. Most denaturalization cases involve citizens whom the government claims concealed or willfully misrepresented facts in their prior immigration applications.

Every denaturalization case must be looked at on a case-by-case basis. A citizen is not subject to denaturalization in every case where a fact was omitted from a prior immigration application.

The government has the burden of proving that omission of the fact was both willful and material:

Willful – the omission on your prior application must be willfully made. This means the omission cannot be by mistake, accident, or neglect. An example of this is if you advised your attorney that you had been convicted of a criminal offense and he or she failed to list it on the application, then you may have a defense because you did not willfully omit the fact.

Material – The fact that the government argues details were omitted from a prior immigration application must also be material. In other words, the fact must be important to the adjudicator in making a legal decision on the application. For example, you might have omitted disclosing an arrest for disorderly conduct that ultimately was dismissed in court on your application for permanent residency 12 years ago. Arguably, that fact would not be material because it did not lead to a conviction and is not a crime that involves inadmissibility under the INA (Immigration and Nationality Act).

Defenses to denaturalization will always depend on the facts of each case but may include (but are not limited to):

The government is simply wrong, and the allegations are false.

The information submitted on the citizenship application was all true.

There was no specific inquiry about the subject of the allegations.

The concealment was not intentional.

There is a case of mistaken identity in pointing to someone as a member of a subversive or terrorist group.

The dishonorable discharge was improper.

If the District Court who oversees a denaturalization case makes legal errors in deciding a denaturalization case, then there is a process that allows an appeal based on those legal errors. Appeals are highly technical and specific and are not commonly won by those who appeal. If you are at the appeal stage, then you have already missed your best opportunity to win your denaturalization case. Ultimately, your best chance to win your denaturalization case comes with putting forward your strongest case at the beginning with an experienced immigration attorney on your side. You have one chance to do it right.

The Bajoka Law Difference: Denaturalization Attorney Edward Bajoka

Most attorneys have never stepped foot in an immigration courthouse, much less have actually been successful in any immigration-related proceedings. Do you really want your denaturalization case to be the first your attorney has actually defended in court? While the answer to that question might be easy, choosing the right attorney might not be as simple. The right attorney for a denaturalization case is not someone looking to sign up every person that walks through their door. The right attorney for a denaturalization case is one that has the proper experience, time, and resources to put into defending your case against the power of the government. The United States government has unlimited resources when it comes to investigating and building cases. Your first step towards leveling the playing field is hiring an attorney who brings years of successful denaturalization defense experience to the table. At Bajoka Law, Attorney Edward Bajoka and his team lean on this past experience to help bring future success.

Let Detroit’s leading Denaturalization Attorney Edward Bajoka fight for your rights! He is experienced in both criminal and immigration laws. He will sit down with you and discuss every aspect of your case for the sole purpose of devising the best legal defense to keep you in this country.
Call Attorney Edward Bajoka at the Bajoka Law Group today at ((844) 4BAJOKA today to schedule an appointment.