The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is carefully checking some immigration and citizenship cases. They are looking at people from 19 countries, including Somalia, to see if anyone lied or cheated to become a citizen. If they find someone did, they might take away their citizenship.
Tricia McLaughlin, a top official at DHS, said that if someone becomes a citizen by lying, the government can take away their citizenship.
This review is about finding fraud, like fake marriages or false statements used to get legal status or citizenship.
This news comes after some Republican lawmakers have been asking for stronger punishments for people who misuse government money. They pointed to a case in Minnesota where millions of dollars were supposedly misused in a child care program.
DHS said that taking away someone’s citizenship is a serious thing that only happens in special cases, according to the law.
The review involves cases from 19 countries that DHS is watching closely. DHS did not say exactly how many cases they are checking or if they have started the process of taking away anyone’s citizenship yet.
Taking away citizenship is not common. The government has only done it a few times each year since the 1990s.
To take away someone’s citizenship, prosecutors have to prove that the person got it illegally. This can be hard to prove and can take many years in court.
At the same time, the Department of Health and Human Services recently stopped giving money to child care programs in Minnesota because of suspected fraud.
Jim O’Neill, another top official, said that Minnesota has sent millions of taxpayer dollars to fake daycares over the last 10 years. Because of this, the agency is stopping payments while they investigate.
DHS has not said how long the review will take or if they expect to take away anyone’s citizenship soon.
