The U.S. Department of Justice announced on October 5 that it has filed civil denaturalization complaints in multiple U.S. district courts against 40 individuals accused of serious offenses. The department lists acting as an agent for a foreign government, voluntary manslaughter and aggravated sodomy against a special-needs man among them. The complaints were filed between Aug. 21 and Oct. 2, 2026.

The department calls it the largest single-period denaturalization filing under the Trump administration. According to the release, the cases were filed in courts that include the Eastern District of Virginia, the Middle and Southern Districts of Florida, the Middle and Northern Districts of Georgia, the Central and Southern Districts of California, the District of Maryland, the District of Arizona and the Northern and Southern Districts of Texas.

Many of the complaints allege that the defendants hid crimes or lied during the naturalization process. The release describes cases involving visa fraud, marriage fraud, immigration fraud, a false claim of U.S. citizenship, tax evasion and sexual abuse of a minor, all alleged to have occurred before the person became a citizen. In one case the department says a defendant conspired to act as an agent of a foreign government without notifying the Attorney General.

The Dispute Index, which tracks the department's denaturalization push, reports that Brett Shumate defended the campaign in the October 5 release as a way to restore trust and integrity in U.S. citizenship and said the 40 defendants lied during naturalization. The outlet notes a June 11, 2025 directive made denaturalization an enforcement priority across broad categories.

These are civil lawsuits asking courts to revoke citizenship. The Dispute Index notes the announcement does not establish 40 completed revocations, and the allegations still require adjudication. The announcement by itself revokes nobody's citizenship.