DEPORT Act of 2026

Key Points

• The bill requires all future citizenship applicants to sign a sworn legal statement under penalty of perjury confirming they have no terrorism convictions, no pending terrorism charges, and no intent to commit terrorism. The government must update the citizenship application form within 180 days to include individual checkboxes for each type of covered offense.
• If a naturalized citizen who signed the new attestation is later convicted of a terrorism-related crime, the conviction creates a legal presumption that they lied on their citizenship application. The person must then prove by 'clear, convincing, and unequivocal evidence' that they were truthful when they applied, flipping the usual burden of proof.
• For people who became citizens before this law, a terrorism conviction within 10 years of naturalization counts as automatic evidence they were not truly committed to the Constitution when they took their oath. This applies retroactively to all previously naturalized citizens.
• Once citizenship is revoked, the person becomes deportable, permanently barred from reentering the U.S., and stripped of all immigration benefits with no waivers available. If deportation would leave them stateless, they can be detained indefinitely under ongoing court review every 180 days.
• The government can use classified intelligence in denaturalization cases. A judge reviews the secret evidence behind closed doors, but the person facing citizenship loss may not see all the evidence against them, raising due process concerns.

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