Fact check: Can a president remove an American's U.S. citizenship because he wants to?

1. Summary of the results

Based on the analyses provided, a president cannot unilaterally remove an American's U.S. citizenship simply because he wants to. Multiple sources confirm this constitutional limitation:

• The 14th Amendment guarantees citizenship to anyone born in the United States, providing constitutional protection against arbitrary citizenship removal ^[1]
• Legal experts consistently state that the president lacks the power to revoke citizenship of someone born in the U.S., except in specific cases involving fraud ^[2]
• The Supreme Court established in the 1967 case Afroyim v. Rusk that the U.S. government cannot revoke an individual's citizenship without their consent ^[3]

However, there are limited legal pathways for citizenship revocation that don't involve presidential discretion:

• The Department of Justice can pursue denaturalization cases through the courts, but this process involves judicial oversight rather than executive decree ^[4]
• These efforts typically target naturalized citizens who committed crimes or lied during the naturalization process, not natural-born citizens ^[4]
• U.S. attorneys have been given discretion to decide when to pursue denaturalization, but this still requires due process through the court system ^[5]

2. Missing context/alternative viewpoints

The original question lacks several important contextual elements:

• Distinction between natural-born and naturalized citizens: The analyses reveal that denaturalization efforts primarily affect naturalized citizens, not those born in the United States ^[4]
• Role of the judicial system: The question implies presidential unilateral action, but the analyses show that citizenship revocation requires court proceedings and due process ^[4]
• Historical legal precedent: The question doesn't acknowledge the Supreme Court's 1967 ruling in Afroyim v. Rusk, which established crucial protections against involuntary citizenship revocation ^[3]
• Current DOJ priorities: Recent developments show the Department of Justice has been prioritizing denaturalization cases involving dangerous individuals, but this operates within existing legal frameworks rather than expanding presidential powers ^[5]

Political actors who might benefit from confusion about presidential citizenship powers include:

• Presidents seeking to appear tough on immigration by threatening citizenship revocation
• Political opponents who can use such threats to mobilize their base against executive overreach

3. Potential misinformation/bias in the original statement

The original question contains an implicit assumption that could promote misinformation:

• False premise of presidential authority: By asking "can a president remove citizenship because he wants to," the question suggests this might be within presidential powers, when constitutional law clearly establishes it is not ^{[1] [3]}
• Oversimplification of legal processes: The question ignores the complex legal framework involving courts, due process, and specific criteria that govern the limited circumstances under which citizenship can be revoked ^[4]
• Conflation of different types of citizenship: The question doesn't distinguish between natural-born citizens protected by the 14th Amendment and naturalized citizens who may face denaturalization under specific circumstances ^{[4] [2]}

The framing could inadvertently spread fear about arbitrary presidential power over citizenship, when the constitutional and legal reality provides much stronger protections than the question implies.