House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, a Republican from Minnesota, is advocating for the Stop Citizenship Abuse and Misrepresentation (SCAM) Act to allow the U.S. government to revoke citizenship from naturalized immigrants convicted of terrorism, fraud, or espionage. Emmer argues recent attacks by naturalized citizens highlight flaws in current immigration law that make denaturalization difficult.
SCAM Act Expands Grounds for Citizenship Revocation
Introduced by Emmer in January and backed in the Senate by Senator Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), the SCAM Act permits prosecutors to use crimes committed after naturalization as evidence that individuals misrepresented their moral character during the citizenship process. This would make their citizenship invalid from the outset and allow denaturalization.
The bill currently rests with the House Judiciary Committee and has nearly 50 House co-sponsors. Emmer expects it to pass with some bipartisan support, emphasizing that terrorists should not live in the U.S., regardless of citizenship status. “It’s really simple,” he said. “The message is, terrorists do not belong on U.S. soil, naturalized or not.”
Recent Terror Attacks Involving Naturalized Citizens
The call for legislative changes follows several violent incidents by naturalized citizens. Earlier in March, Ndiaga Diagne, a Senegal-born naturalized citizen, killed three people and injured more than a dozen in Austin. Diagne was killed by responding police.
Also in March, Emir Balat and Ibrahim Kayumi, the children of naturalized citizens from Turkey and Afghanistan, were charged with plotting an ISIS-inspired bombing in New York City, involving weapon of mass destruction and explosives offenses.
On March 12, Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, a Lebanese-born naturalized citizen, allegedly tried to ram his vehicle into a Michigan synagogue. That same day, Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, a Sierra Leone-born naturalized citizen, opened fire at Old Dominion University, killing an ROTC officer before being shot dead by police.
Community Concerns and Political Opposition
Emmer’s stance has faced criticism within his home state. Abdikadir Bashir, executive director of the Center for African Immigrants and Refugees Organization, accused Emmer of politically targeting immigrant communities. Bashir warned that conditional citizenship based on political convenience threatens all ethnic groups.
Emmer argues the current denaturalization standards are too high given the recent attacks and calls for urgent legislative action to prevent terrorists from remaining in the country at the expense of American lives.
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