The Trump administration on Monday announced plans to revoke the citizenship of 17 U.S. citizens who are accused of immigration fraud. 

The Justice Department said the revocations will be the largest denaturalization effort by the federal government, which previous administrations have rarely invoked, CBS News reported. 

Between 1990 and 2017, the Justice Department filed an average of 11 complaints a year seeking to strip American citizens of their citizenship, according to one study. 

Federal law allows the federal government to denaturalize U.S. citizens born abroad if officials believe they committed fraud in the course of gaining citizenship. Officials need to persuade judges to strip citizenship from the accused in federal courts. 

The Justice Department last year expanded the categories of naturalized citizens who should be prioritized for denaturalization.