united-states privacy immigration citizenship
Does the US Government monitor and/or revoke newly naturalized citizens?
<p>I know to some extent the US watches everyone, but what I am thinking of is whether newly naturalized citizens are watched to see if their naturalization process seems insincere <strong>in hindsight</strong>. For example:</p>
<ol>
<li>If a newly naturalized citizen immediately <strong>emigrates</strong> from the US
<strong>back</strong> to their country of origin (although continues to file and pay
relevant expat taxes).</li>
<li>If a newly naturalized citizen, who became a citizen after 3 years of residency because they're married to a citizen (rather than the usual 5 years, <a href="https://www.uscis.gov/citizenship/learn-about-citizenship/citizenship-and-naturalization/i-am-married-to-a-us-citizen" rel="nofollow noreferrer">src</a>) immediately gets <strong>divorced</strong>. (Obviously you have to present evidence of a bona fide marriage - which mine is - to even get citizenship, <em>this is hypothetical</em>)</li>
<li>If a newly naturalized citizen, who took an amended oath NOT swearing to serve in the US military, due to 'deeply held religious or moral code' (<a href="https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-12-part-j-chapter-3" rel="nofollow noreferrer">src</a>), then joins the military, gets a concealed carry permit, gets an FFL or similarly seems to <strong>not be very pacifisty</strong>.</li>
<li>If a newly naturalized citizen immediately joins the <strong>Communist Party</strong>, which although not illegal (<a href="https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/77618/is-communism-illegal-in-the-u-s-because-of-the-communist-control-act-of-1954">src</a>) would have disqualified them from citizenship if they'd joined the CP before applying.</li>
</ol>
<p>I know there are certain things where the US can revoke citizenship, like serving in a foreign military who's at war with the US, but none of my list are illegal activities in themselves.</p>
<p><strong>Does the US watch for and/or revoke the citizenship of new citizens for this kind of stuff?</strong></p>
<p>(1) could happen if my parents get sick or injured and I need to become their carer, for example. Also, I do intend to modify my citizenship oath/affirmation (3): I have religious conviction against bearing arms for any worldly nation, but I am willing to use force in private-individual self-defense, and I feel like the nuanced distinction between those may be lost on any watchdogs.</p>
<p>I would also be curious whether misdemeanors or felonies shortly after citizenship can result in revocation.</p>

<blockquote>
<p>If a newly naturalized citizen immediately emigrates from the US back to their country of origin (although continues to file and pay relevant expat taxes).</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This used to be grounds for expatriation, but in 1964, in <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/377/163" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Schneider v. Rusk</a>, the supreme court ruled that it was impermissible.  The law was subsequently amended to remove the relevant provision.</p>

<p>Naturalization can be revoked per <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/8/1451" rel="nofollow noreferrer">8 USC 1451</a></p>
<blockquote>
<p>on the ground that such order and certificate of naturalization were
illegally procured or were procured by concealment of a material fact
or by willful misrepresentation</p>
</blockquote>
<p>and furthermore</p>
<blockquote>
<p>refusal on the part of a naturalized citizen within a period of ten
years following his naturalization to testify as a witness in any
proceeding before a congressional committee concerning his subversive
activities, in a case where such person has been convicted of contempt
for such refusal, shall be held to constitute a ground for revocation
of such person’s naturalization under this subsection as having been
procured by concealment of a material fact or by willful
misrepresentation.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This revocation is retroactive, and essentially means &quot;you never were a US citizen&quot;.</p>
<p>Under <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/8/1481" rel="nofollow noreferrer">8 USC 1481</a>, anyone can lose their citizenship for certain acts which have &quot;the intention of relinquishing United States nationality&quot;.</p>
<p>W.r.t. (1): no, there is no requirement for a citizen to live in the US. (2) No, there is no oath where they promise to stay married for 5 years, and anybody is entitled to change their mind about a marriage (the requirement is that you be married for at least 3 years, which is true). (3) There is no life-long commitment to being a pacifist or holding any particular philosophy, it just has to be true at the time you take the vow. (4) There is no vow that you don't have communistical leanings. The only legal restriction is that you are deemed inadmissible by USCIS if you have been a member of the CP. But you are allowed to change your viewpoint. Committing crimes is also not grounds for revoking citizenship</p>

<blockquote>
<p>Does the US watch for and/or revoke the citizenship of new citizens
for this kind of stuff?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>There has historically been <a href="https://www.aila.org/advo-media/issues/all/featured-issue-denaturalization-efforts-by-uscis" rel="nofollow noreferrer">no mechanism in place</a> to systemically monitor naturalized citizens for grounds for revocation of citizenship.</p>
<p>These cases have historically been brought to the attention of the government on a case by case complaint driven basis.</p>
<p>As the linked source recounts:</p>
<blockquote>
<ul>
<li><p>For many years, the DOJ focused its efforts to strip immigrants of their citizenship on suspected war criminals who lied on their
immigration paperwork, most notably former Nazis. And, USCIS and DOJ
pursued cases as they arose, but not through a coordinated effort.</p>
</li>
<li><p>In February 2020, DOJ announced the creation of a section dedicated to denaturalization cases. Noting that, “While the Office of
Immigration Litigation already has achieved great success in the
denaturalization cases it has brought, winning 95 percent of the time,
the growing number of referrals anticipated from law enforcement
agencies motivated the creation of a standalone section dedicated to
this important work.”</p>
</li>
<li><p>According to the New York Times, “denaturalizations have ramped up under the Trump administration: Of the 228 denaturalization cases that
the department has filed since 2008, about 40 percent of them were
filed since 2017, according to official department numbers. And over
the past three years, denaturalization case referrals to the
department have increased 600 percent.”</p>
</li>
<li><p>In a budget request for FY2019, the administration asked for $207.6 million to investigate 887 additional leads it expects to get into
American citizens who may be vulnerable to denaturalization, and to
review another 700,000 immigrant files.</p>
</li>
<li><p>The Trump administration launched an office that focuses on identifying immigrants who are suspected of cheating to get their
green cards or citizenship and seek to denaturalize these individuals.</p>
</li>
<li><p>In 2018, USCIS Director Cissna stated that “he hopes the agency’s new office in Los Angeles will be running by next year but added that
investigating and referring cases for prosecution will likely take
longer.”</p>
</li>
<li><p>In September 2016, the DHS Office of the Inspector General (OIG) released a report finding that USCIS granted U.S. citizenship to at
least 858 individuals ordered deported or removed under another
identity when, during the naturalization process, their digital
fingerprint records were not available. OIG recommends that ICE finish
uploading into the digital repository the fingerprints it identified,
and that DHS resolve these cases of naturalized citizens who may have
been ineligible. Further, the report found that fingerprint records
were missing from hundreds of thousands of cases for a variety of
reasons.</p>
</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>

<blockquote>
<p>Does the US Government monitor and/or revoke newly naturalized citizens?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>It may well monitor, but it won't revoke citizenship merely because you don't keep your promises (if they can be even labeled so).</p>
<p>What is important is that you don't provide false information to the government when <em>applying</em> for citizenship. Giving promises to keep your mind in a certain state (e.g. not intending to bear arms, divorce or move abroad) and then changing your mind is not giving false information.</p>
<p>But if it can be proven that you in fact lied about your intentions (e.g. you <em>knew</em> that you will leave the country as soon as citizenship is granted, or divorce etc.), then that will perfectly count as providing false information, and so your citizenship could be revoked.</p>
