MOUNT VERNON, VA. — The Justice Department is targeting at least 300 foreign-born Americans for potential revocation of their citizenship as part of an expanded denaturalization effort under the Trump administration. A Justice Department official said the number of individuals identified for potential denaturalization was in the hundreds.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services sent experts to its offices nationwide and reassigned staff members to identify possible denaturalization cases. The agency aimed to provide between 100 and 200 potential cases per month to the Justice Department. Federal prosecutors in field offices across the country are working on the effort, and the Justice Department instructed attorneys to prioritize such cases.

"The Department of Justice is laser-focused on rooting out criminal aliens defrauding the naturalization process. Under the leadership of President Trump and Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, the Department is pursuing the highest volume of denaturalization referrals in history. We are moving at warp speed to ensure fraudsters are held accountable and prosecuted to the fullest extent." a Justice Department spokesperson said.

The department suggested that potential cases could include individuals who pose a risk to national security, have engaged in war crimes or torture, or have committed Medicaid or Medicare fraud or otherwise defrauded the government. U.S. authorities have identified 384 foreign-born Americans who will soon lose their citizenship.

The denaturalization push is part of the Trump administration's broader immigration enforcement measures. During Trump's first term, the administration filed 102 denaturalization cases.

Roughly 800,000 people become naturalized U.S. citizens each year, according to Homeland Security.