EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Citizenship is essential to the realization of basic human rights. While rights are understood to be universal, as a practical matter they often require citizenship and the state protection that comes with it to be enjoyed. Although international law and the U.S. Constitution grant non-citizens substantial legal protection, without citizenship, rights such as freedom of movement can be restricted; without citizenship, it can be very difficult for people to access healthcare, education, and housing. Given the critical importance of citizenship, it is surprising that U.S. citizenship law and practice are riddled with gaps, weaknesses, and opportunities for arbitrary decision-making. Under the administration of President Donald Trump, those gaps and weaknesses have been freshly exposed and exploited to deny or deprive citizenship from certain people in a context of overt racial and religious animus, as part of a broader effort to fundamentally redefine the meaning of U.S. citizenship. If left unchecked, the insecurity of citizenship will continue to increase. The power to take away or deny citizenship creates a gaping and unresolved loophole in the protection of human rights. It also creates dilemmas for those who seek to enforce human rights. On one hand, the sanctity and security of citizenship on an equal and non-discriminatory basis should be protected. But on the other, the desirability of secure citizenship must not be exploited as a way to deprive non-citizens of the full complement of human rights. Citizenship is inherently political in any society and acutely so in democratic societies in which citizens have a share in the establishment of government. Throughout history, citizenship, including the denial and revocation of citizenship, has been manipulated for political ends. At its most extreme, the effort to take away citizenship results in statelessness, a condition that renders people literally without a place to go, without the state protection that ensures rights in practice, and often without any means to challenge their condition. Sadly, there is a long history of governments using the revocation of citizenship as a weapon. From the Nazis revoking the citizenship of Jews to the Dominican Republic’s more recent assaults on the citizenship of Dominicans of Haitian descent, governments have used this tactic against racial, ethnic, and religious minorities; political opponents; and other disfavored groups, often as a prelude to mass arrests, expulsions, and executions. Today, the Trump administration appears willing to follow in these footsteps, and the American public appears increasingly content to acquiesce. 6 UNMAKING AMERICANS