Family Separation Denaturalization creates risk of deportation, which can also mean a separation from one’s family. In several cases reviewed for this report, court filings contained letters from family members pleading for leniency. Such requests will fail: revocation of citizenship and susceptibility to deportation is automatic in both civil and criminal denaturalizations. The Trump administration has come under scrutiny for implementing a “zero-tolerance” policy across the southern border of the United States, resulting in the separation of thousands of families. Denaturalization is also tearing families apart. Case Example: Leaving behind Six Children Twenty-five-years ago, J.O. entered the United States from Ghana using another person’s passport. He then claimed asylum. He did not attend his scheduled asylum hearing, as according to him his attorney said he did not need to appear. Neither he nor his lawyer attended the hearing and J.O. was ordered removed in absentia. He was not aware of this order. J.O.’s wife, still in Ghana, received a Diversity Visa, and joined J.O. in the U.S. in 1996, and is now a U.S. citizen. J.O. naturalized in 2010 and has no criminal record. On his naturalization application, he neither disclosed using another’s passport, nor that he was ordered removed. J.O.’s six children live in the United States as citizens and legal permanent residents. In May 2017, J.O. was denaturalized. In its sentencing memo, the U.S. government discussed at length the need for J.O. to go back to Ghana. Letter from J.O’s Son My father led by example for the kind of person I should be. He helped me become a responsible adult and a model citizen to society. Many people grow up without fathers, or with fathers who do not do the right thing. He loved us so much and did his best to make his family happy. In one of my best memories with my father is when I would wait for him to come home from work. As soon as he would open the door, I would be there standing with my arms wide open. He would have the biggest smile as he would lift me up in the air and hold me in his arms. I am blessed to be able to grow up with a father who have the heart to give his children the best he could, to give them a foundation for a better life. I please ask you for sentencing to be merciful on my father. Nothing would make me happier than to give him a hug as he witnesses another milestone in my life, my graduation. It would break my heart if he could not be there to see what we both worked so hard for. Thank you very much your Honor, II. Denaturalization: A Radical Measure in the Hands of Zealots 111