ArtI.S8.C4.1.5.1 Denaturalization (Revoking Citizenship) Generally
Article I, Section 8, Clause 4:
“The Congress shall have Power, To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States; . . .
The concept of naturalization typically concerns the grant of citizenship to a person who has lived in the United States for a specified time period and meets certain other requirements; to groups of people in newly-acquired territories who acquire citizenship by statute or treaty; and to children born outside the United States who become U.S. citizens upon birth to a U.S. citizen parent, or who derive their citizenship upon their parents’ naturalization in the United States. Congress has also addressed the concept of denaturalization, which refers to the revocation of citizenship from a naturalized U.S. citizen.
Congress’s power over denaturalization derives from its power [t]o establish an uniform rule of naturalization,
and from its power to make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or any Department or Officer thereof.
1 In describing the theory of denaturalization, the Supreme Court has stated that [a]n alien has no moral nor constitutional right to retain the privileges of citizenship if, by false evidence or the like, an imposition has been practiced upon the court, without which the certificate of citizenship could not and would not have been issued.
2 Thus, there must be strict compliance with all the congressionally imposed prerequisites to the acquisition of citizenship. Failure to comply with any of these conditions renders the certificate of citizenship ‘illegally procured,’ and naturalization that is unlawfully procured can be set aside.
3
The Naturalization Act of 1906 was the first law to provide for d