News
25million under scrutiny, as Trump extends deportation to naturalised citizens
Any naturalised United States citizen, cut in the web of high crimes and those who obtained their approvals by fraudulent means, might be forced the exit the country, quickly as the sun rises and as the night falls.
This is courtesy of a fresh onslaught from the White House, where Donal Trump issued a new memo to that effect, requiring operatives to go after such people, in yet another clampdown on residents following his immigration policy promises on which back he rode back to power in February 2025.
In all, some 25 million naturalised citizens are under scrutiny as the US government has formalised efforts to pursue a massive revocation programme with the Justice Department directing federal attorneys to prioritise denaturalisation for individuals who committed specific crimes or misrepresented information during their naturalisation process.
Reports, on Monday, quoting The Guardian said the memo dated June 11, called for civil proceedings against individuals who either “illegally procured” naturalisation or did so through “concealment of a material fact or by willful misrepresentation.”
Unlike criminal trials, those facing civil denaturalisation are not entitled to legal representation, and the government faces a lower burden of proof.
At the center of the move according to the report are the estimated 25 million US citizens who immigrated to the country after being born abroad, according to data from 2023, and it lists 10 different priority categories for denaturalisation.
According to the memo, those subjected to civil proceedings are not entitled to an attorney as they are in criminal cases.
And the government has a lighter burden of proof in civil cases than they do in criminal ones.
The memo claims such efforts will focus on those who are involved “in the commission of war crimes, extrajudicial killings, or other serious human rights abuses … [and] naturalized criminals, gang members, or, indeed, any individuals convicted of crimes who pose an ongoing threat to the US”.
The justice department’s civil rights division has been placed at the forefront of Trump’s policy objectives, including ending diversity, equity, and inclusion programmes within the government as well as ending transgender treatments, among other initiatives.
That comes as the US’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency registered its 13th in-custody death for the fiscal year beginning in October 2024. There had been 12 such deaths during the entire fiscal year that finished at the end of September 2024.
On Friday Jim Ryan, president of the University of Virginia, resigned amid an investigation by the justice department’s civil rights division.
The investigation took aim at the university’s DEI programs and its continuing to consider race and ethnicity in various programmes and scholarships.
The justice department also took the unusual step in recent days of suing 15 US district attorneys in Maryland over an order blocking the immediate deportation of migrants challenging their removal.
The justice department’s civil rights division is reportedly in disarray as its traditional mission to combat racial discrimination after the civil rights movement is reshaped by priorities stemming from the president’s executive orders.
About 250 attorneys or 70% of the division’s lawyers were believed to have left the department in the time between January and the end of May, according to a recent National Public Radio report.
The memo’s focus on denaturalisation comes as at least one person has been denaturalised in recent weeks.
On 13 June, a judge ordered the revocation of the citizenship of Elliott Duke. Duke is a US military veteran originally from the UK who was convicted of distributing child sexual abuse material and had not disclosed the crime during the naturalisation process.
Immigration attorneys are concerned that denaturalisation cases via civil litigation strip some rights from the individual, including rights to an attorney as well as lowering the threshold of proof, and speeding up the denaturalisation process.
“It is kind of, in a way, trying to create a second class of US citizens,” said Sameera Hafiz, policy director of the Immigration Legal Resource Center, to NPR.
The wives of the five engineers allegedly murdered in Ebonyi State yesterday rejected the comments attributed to the Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, on the development, describing it as an attempt to “sweep the truth under the carpet”. The group renewed calls for an independent reinvestigation into the case.
Nelson Onyemeh, Ernest Edeani, Ikechukwu Ejiofor, Samuel Aneke, and Stanley Nwazulum were reportedly kidnapped in November 2021 while supervising construction work on the Abakaliki Ring Road project.
The protesting women, whose husbands were consultants with NELAN Engineering firm, accused authorities of inconsistencies, interference, and a possible cover-up in the handling of the case, which dates back to November 3, 2021.
In a statement, Mrs. Patricia Onyemeh, Mrs. Lovette Edeani, Mrs. Ifeoma Ejiofor, Mrs. Esther Aneke, and Mrs. Nwazulum faulted Umahi’s claim that the engineers were victims of a communal crisis, as they insisted no such conflict occurred at the time.
They said: “The characterisation of the disappearance of the five engineers as a consequence of communal crisis is completely outrageous, misconceived, and flawed.” The engineers, according to the families, travelled to Ebonyi for an official meeting linked to the African Development Bank-funded ring road project when Umahi was governor.
They said: “Credible accounts indicate that our husbands were last seen in connection with official engagements tied to the Ebonyi Ring Road project. “This raises serious questions as to whether the incident can be fairly reduced to communal violence.”
They further alleged that while investigations were ongoing, Umahi announced that the engineers had been killed and buried, a move they said raised “serious suspicions”. The women said: “This announcement by a sitting governor, while security agencies were still tracking movements, raises grave concerns.”
The women also questioned the sudden removal of a Department of State Services (DSS) investigator, Victor Onyesom, who was reportedly handling the case.
They further accused the police of presenting unidentified skeletal remains to the families without conducting DNA tests. The group said: “The police claimed the remains were those of our husbands, but refused DNA testing.
You risk getting into trouble if you by any means, join in spreading the rumour that Tony O. Elumelu, because it is manifestly false, United Bank for Africa, one of the establishments of the popular Nigerian business mogul, warned on Monday.
Against the backdrop of rumours spreading across the social media, the bank rejected the claims as fake and damaging, saying at no time did the industrialist and Chairman of the Heirs Holdings, divorce his wife, Awele Vivien Elumelu.
The bank, in a statement, which also described the story as also defamatory, and malicious publication, the statement said: “These statements and all similar content are entirely fabricated, reckless, and without basis. The claims are a deliberate falsehood designed to mislead the public and cause reputational harm.”
Stressing that the matter had been reported to law enforcement authorities, the statement, signed by Alero Ladipo, confirmed that three people linked to the publication had been arrested.
Naming those involved in spreading the rumour as Mr Kingsley Akunemeihe (@Directorkem), Mr Chigozie Success Ihebom, and Mr John Surpruchi Nwanorue (@problemchimky), the bank informed that investigations were ongoing and could lead to more arrests and prosecutions.
The statement added: “Investigations are ongoing and are expected to lead to further arrests and prosecutions of all persons involved in originating, amplifying, or sustaining this defamatory campaign. This serves as a formal notice to all individuals, platforms, and entities involved in the publication, reposting, or continued dissemination of this content to immediately cease and desist.
“Failure to comply will result in the initiation of legal proceedings, including claims for defamation, injunctive relief, damages, and any other remedies available under applicable law.
“The UBA Group is resolute in protecting the reputation, privacy, and integrity of our brand, that of Mr. Elumelu and will pursue all necessary legal avenues — civil and criminal — to ensure that all responsible parties are identified and held accountable.”
Abdulrahman Mohammad, National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), belonging to the camp of Nyesom Wike, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), all but scoffed at the 13-member Interim National Working Committee (INWC), raised by the party’s Board of Trustees (BoT) as a non-event.
In a statement, shortly after the committee was announced by Adolphus Wabara, PDP BoT Chairman, Mohammed dismissed claims upon which the body rested its decision after its 103rd National Executive Committee (NEC), describing the development as illegitimate and misleading.
The embattled party boss, who conveyed his position through, Jungudo Mohammed, spokesman of the camp, said: “The PDP wishes to categorically state that no such meeting was convened by the leadership of the party. Consequently, any resolutions, announcements, or claims emanating from that gathering are null, void, and of no effect.”
Stressing the irony in individuals he claimed previously opposed the idea of a caretaker committee, now embracing it, he said every NEC meeting must be preceded with due notification to the Independent National Electoral Commission to be valied.
Hear him: “Even if, for the sake of argument, they possessed the legal authority to convene such a meeting (which they do not), they have once again failed to comply with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2026.
“Specifically, the mandatory requirement to give the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) a minimum of 21 days’ notice for such a meeting was blatantly ignored. There is no evidence of compliance, nor was INEC in attendance as required by law. This alone renders their actions null and void.”
Mohammed questioned the authority of the BoT, a mere advisory body to raise the 13-man committee led by Taminu Turaki, saying such a move ran against the grains of the PDP constitution, urging relevant regulatory bodies to examine the conduct of those involved, particularly members of the senior bar.
Describing the development as part of a pattern, the party said the alleged NEC meeting was a continuation of earlier failed attempts to create confusion within its ranks.
His words: “We therefore call on all party members, stakeholders, and the general public to completely disregard this illegitimate assembly and its outcomes. It has no constitutional basis, no legal standing, and no binding authority whatsoever.
“The PDP remains committed to upholding its constitution, the rule of law, and democratic principles under the able leadership of Abdulrahman Mohammad and Senator Samuel N. Anyawu.”
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