All briefings
Sample issue
Loss of Citizenship & Denaturalization
How U.S. law protects citizenship once acquired — the doctrine of voluntary relinquishment and the limits on denaturalization.
Court activity
- Afroyim v. Rusk (1967)
The government may not revoke citizenship without the individual's voluntary relinquishment.
- Vance v. Terrazas (1980)
Expatriation requires a specific intent to relinquish citizenship, not merely a potentially expatriating act.
- Maslenjak v. United States (2017)
Denaturalization on the basis of a false statement requires that the lie was material to the decision to naturalize.
Federal
- Immigration and Nationality Act
The statutory framework governing naturalization and the narrow grounds for its loss.
Research updates
- Expatriation in the Research Library
Primary sources and case law on the security of citizenship once acquired.