Green card holders who have become U.S. citizens could lose their citizenship over misrepresented tax returns, as denaturalization becomes a top DOJ priority.
VIA FINANCIAL EXPRESS
Green card holders who have become American citizens are at risk of losing their U.S. citizenship for under-reporting income, according to a recent U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) directive. The memo, issued to enforcement authorities, prioritizes denaturalization—a legal process that revokes citizenship for fraud or misrepresentation during naturalization.
While historically used against war criminals or national security threats, denaturalization is now being applied to civil cases, including tax fraud. Under President Trump, Bloomberg Law reported, the DOJ made under-reporting income a revocable offense.
One example is a Houston woman, who obtained citizenship but pleaded guilty to filing a false tax return. Though she served time and paid fines, the DOJ has pursued revoking her citizenship due to the fraud.
Naturalization grants legal U.S. residency and rights, but those rights can be stripped if officials determine key facts were concealed. The DOJ is actively pursuing such cases, placing denaturalization among its top five civil enforcement priorities.
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