Republican Bill Would Denaturalize US Citizens as Support Grows

By Steve Mollman, Newsweek, March 17, 2026- Calls to denaturalize and deport naturalized U.S.
citizens involved in terrorism are growing among Republican leaders following a spate of attacks on American soil and a heightened threat environment amid the Iran War.

One lawmaker, GOP Representative Riley Moore of West Virginia, announced on Friday that he would introduce a bill to denaturalize and deport any naturalized citizen who commits an act of terrorism, plots to commit an act of terrorism, joins a terrorist organization, or otherwise aids and abets terrorism against the American people. ... Other Republican figures—including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, and Missouri Senator Eric Schmitt—shared similar sentiments on Friday.

... The SCAM Act, which Schmitt introduced in the Senate in January, would expand federal authority to denaturalize U.S. citizens who obtained citizenship through naturalization if later conduct—such as fraud against government programs, serious felonies, espionage, or terrorist ties—shows they were never eligible for citizenship in the first place.

... On Capitol Hill, the SCAM Act is already pending in both chambers: Schmitt’s S.3674 was introduced January 15 and placed on the Senate Legislative Calendar on January 26, while Emmer’s companion H.R.7156 was introduced January 20 and referred to the House Judiciary Committee. (Read it all)

W. H. Bernstein

Comment by W. H. Bernstein: 

This is the path of totalitarianism.

My father in law a'h was born in Germany in 1936.  His ancestors had lived there demonstrably since the 1600s.  But under the Nazis he and his family were stripped of German citizenship.

This bill only applies to naturalized citizens. But there is no reason it could not be extended to native-born citizens.  And "terrorism" means nothing. People have been convicted of "terrorism" for wearing black at a demonstration.  The government could pick any criterion it wanted as a way to strip citizenship from any disfavored group, rendering them non-beings.

Never mind, we already have procedures to strip naturalized citizens of citizenship in very specific cases.

Nothing good coming from this.

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