On Oct. 5, the U.S. Justice Department filed civil lawsuits seeking to revoke the citizenship of 40 naturalized Americans accused of serious misconduct ranging from foreign-agent activity and espionage to violent and sexual crimes. The complaints, filed between Aug. 21 and Oct. 2 across multiple federal courts, represent the largest volume of denaturalization cases brought within a single period under the Trump administration, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, citizenship obtained through illegal procurement, concealment of material facts, or willful misrepresentation can be revoked by a federal court.
“Today’s announcement marks the largest denaturalization effort in modern history,” Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a press release, adding, “From an individual convicted of espionage to others convicted of sexual offenses against minors, these defendants concealed critical facts from the U.S. government and represent serious criminal offenders.”
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Among the 40 individuals are two China-born defendants: Former U.S. Navy sailor Jinchao Wei and Florida resident Ping Li. Both were previously convicted in cases involving work on behalf of the Chinese government, with Wei found guilty of espionage-related offenses and Li pleading guilty to conspiring to act as an unregistered foreign agent.
Accused of working for China’s MSS
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The Justice Department filed a complaint in the Middle District of Florida on Oct. 1 seeking to revoke the citizenship of Ping Li, 61. Li pleaded guilty in 2024 to conspiring to act as an agent of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) without notifying the U.S. attorney general. He was later sentenced to four years in prison, fined $250,000, and ordered to serve three years of supervised release.
According to court filings, Li worked from at least 2012 at the direction of officers of China’s Ministry of State Security, or MSS, gathering information of interest for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
That information included details on Chinese dissidents, pro-democracy advocates, Falun Gong practitioners, and U.S.-based nongovernmental organizations. Prosecutors also said Li passed sensitive information obtained from his employers, including a major U.S. telecommunications company and an international information technology firm.
In one 2012 exchange cited by prosecutors, an MSS officer asked Li to gather information about Falun Gong practitioners planning lawsuits against Chinese officials and about the activities of overseas democracy advocates.
Li later provided personal information about a Florida-based Falun Gong practitioner and attorney. In subsequent years, prosecutors said, he supplied information on other Falun Gong-related individuals, including one practitioner who had protested outside the Chinese Consulate in California.
The Justice Department says Li’s conduct is evidence that, when he naturalized, he was not genuinely “attached to the principles of the Constitution of the United States” or “well disposed to the good order and happiness of the United States.”
Former Navy sailor also targeted
The second China-born defendant is Jinchao Wei, also known as Patrick Wei, a former U.S. Navy sailor who served aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Essex at Naval Base San Diego.
Wei enlisted in the Navy in 2021 and worked as a machinist’s mate with a U.S. security clearance, giving him access to sensitive information about the Essex and its weapons, propulsion and other onboard systems. In February 2022, prosecutors said, he was approached on social media by a Chinese intelligence officer who initially presented himself as a naval enthusiast. Wei soon suspected the man’s true affiliation but continued communicating with him.
Over the next 18 months, prosecutors said Wei provided photographs and videos of U.S. Navy vessels, information about ship movements, and dozens of technical and operating manuals covering systems aboard the Essex and other Navy ships. Many of the materials carried export-control warnings. In exchange, the Chinese intelligence officer paid him more than $12,000.
Wei was arrested in August 2023 as he arrived for work at Naval Base San Diego. A federal jury convicted him in August 2025 of six offenses, including conspiracy to commit espionage, espionage, and unlawful export of defense-related technical data. He was sentenced in January 2026 to 200 months in federal prison and discharged from the Navy.
The denaturalization case centers on the timing of his citizenship. DOJ says Wei began conspiring to sell military secrets to China in February 2022 but obtained expedited U.S. citizenship through his military service just three months later, in May 2022. The government alleges that by concealing his conduct during the naturalization process, Wei illegally obtained citizenship and failed to meet the requirement that military applicants serve honorably.
Broader push on citizenship fraud
The 40 cases span defendants from more than 20 countries and include allegations involving immigration fraud, concealed criminal histories, sexual offenses, financial fraud, homicide, and foreign-government activity, all of which are considered grounds for denaturalization.
“Every single one of these individuals lied their way into U.S. citizenship,” Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate said, adding, “This administration will continue to pursue the largest denaturalization effort in department history to restore trust and integrity in U.S. citizenship.”
However, the current actions are civil rather than criminal proceedings, and citizenship is not automatically revoked when DOJ files a complaint. A federal court must ultimately determine whether the government has met the legal standard for denaturalization. The Justice Department stressed that the allegations in the complaints have not yet resulted in findings of civil liability.
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