{"id":2611033,"date":"2026-06-05T11:23:02","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T15:23:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/senators-explore-avenues-to-denaturalize-and-deport-more-fraudsters-and-america-haters\/"},"modified":"2026-06-05T11:31:48","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T15:31:48","slug":"senators-explore-avenues-to-denaturalize-and-deport-more-fraudsters-and-america-haters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/senators-explore-avenues-to-denaturalize-and-deport-more-fraudsters-and-america-haters\/","title":{"rendered":"Senators Explore Avenues To Denaturalize Foreign Fraudsters"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">14<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fsenators-explore-avenues-to-denaturalize-and-deport-more-fraudsters-and-america-haters%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2611033&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Sen. Eric Schmitt,R-Mo., argued during a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee hearing that naturalized citizenship should be revoked and peopel deported when they break the oath of allegiance or obtained citizenship through fraud. using examples such as the \u201cOld Dominion Shooter,\u201d Schmitt promoted his Stop Citizenship Abuse and Misrepresentation (SCAM) Act, which would extend the period after naturalization when denaturalization and deportation can be pursued from five years to ten and broaden the types of crimes that trigger potential revocation.<\/p>\n<p>Schmitt cited Department of Justice reporting that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/bidens-build-back-better-budget-includes-amnesty-for-at-least-7m-illegal-aliens\/\" title=\"Biden&#039;s &#039;Build Back Better&#039; Budget Includes Amnesty for at Least 7M Illegal Aliens\">naturalized citizens<\/a> make up a significant share of international terrorism convictions, and USCIS investigations showing gaps in identity evidence (like missing fingerprint data) and cases where individuals received citizenship despite having deportation orders due to false identities.<\/p>\n<p>Supporters contend the oath and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/potential-us-citizens-must-be-screened-for-moral-character\/\" title=\"Potential US Citizens Must Be Screened For &#039;Moral Character&#039;\">naturalization requirements<\/a> are meant to ensure newcomers meet strict standards (including allegiance, civics knowledge, and \u201cgood moral character\u201d), and that weak vetting-at times driven by political efforts to increase naturalization rates-has allowed perilous or fraudulent applicants to slip through. Republican witnesses argued that expanding denaturalization authority is one way to address these failures, while noting it is highly structured and subject to legal limits.<\/p>\n<p>democratic lawmakers and witnesses objected to the idea that denaturalized people should be treated more like immigrants than full citizens, calling denaturalization a way to create \u201csecond-class\u201d status and to target immigrant communities. They also argued that naturalized citizens can already be prosecuted under <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ago-task-force-looks-at-extremism-from-a-public-health-perspective-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"AGO task force looks at \u2018extremism\u2019 from a public health perspective - Washington Examiner\">existing criminal laws<\/a>, questioning whether expanding denaturalization is the right remedy.<\/p>\n<p>The hearing functioned as an assessment of the SCAM Act ahead of further Senate action,with lawmakers largely agreeing that naturalization vetting has serious flaws but disagreeing on whether citizenship revocation should be framed as a privilege tied to continued compliance within a defined post-naturalization window.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>American citizenship for naturalized immigrants is a privilege that should be revoked if someone betrays their oath of allegiance to the United States, according to an argument from Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., when discussing his SCAM Act before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution on Wednesday. <\/p>\n<p>Schmitt, who chaired the subcommittee, used the hearing to promote his Stop Citizenship Abuse and Misrepresentation (SCAM) Act, which would do two major things: it would expand from five to 10 years the window of time after naturalization in which individuals who commit crimes that violate their oath of allegiance to the United States or who lied to get their citizenship can be denaturalized and deported, and it expands the scope of crimes that meet that standard.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAcross the country, we\u2019re seeing the consequences of a broken naturalization system that loosely granted citizenship, and then refused to revoke it from those who stole it,\u201d Schmitt said. \u201cThe American people are tired of a government that treats their citizenship as cheap, their laws as optional, and their generosity as an invitation to be exploited. If the government never revoked citizenship obtained by fraud, the oath becomes theater, the application becomes a game, the American citizen becomes a sucker in his own country.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Schmitt called upon a Department of Justice <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/archives\/opa\/pr\/doj-dhs-report-three-out-four-individuals-convicted-international-terrorism-and-terrorism\">review<\/a> which found that naturalized citizens made up over 25% of international terrorism convictions from 9\/11 through 2016, and witnesses cited recent examples of <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >naturalized citizens committing acts<\/a> of terror, espionage, and fraud.<\/p>\n<p>One such example was the \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2026\/03\/15\/us\/mohamed-bailor-jalloh-old-dominion\">Old Dominion Shooter<\/a>\u201d who shot and killed Lt. Col. Brandon Shah and injured two others in March. The gunman was a naturalized citizen named Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, who had been previously convicted for trying to aid ISIS.<\/p>\n<p>Majority witness Ken Cuccinelli, a former director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), pointed out that despite his terrorism conviction, Jalloh was never denaturalized and deported. If the law had been followed more strictly, he never would have been in the United States to commit that murder.<\/p>\n<p>USCIS\u2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uscis.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/document\/foia\/Operation_Janus.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Operation Janus<\/a> also uncovered 315,000 cases of missing fingerprint data for naturalized citizens, and at least 858 people who had deportation orders that all obtained citizenship anyway with false identities.<\/p>\n<p>Schmitt used examples like these to promote the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/bill\/119th-congress\/senate-bill\/3674\/all-actions?s=4&#038;r=1&#038;hl=Stop+Citizenship+Abuse+and+Misrepresentation+Act\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">SCAM Act<\/a> as a remedy for these situations, which he feels are an indication that the naturalization process makes it far too easy for people who should not be in the United States to obtain citizenship.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe SCAM Act gives the government stronger tools when serious conduct shortly after naturalization reveals the truth that was hiding during the process,\u201d Schmitt said. \u201cWe need a serious, nationwide denaturalization effort against fraudsters, felons, terrorists, spies, and anyone who obtained American citizenship by deceit.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>As Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, pointed out, there are specific requirements to be naturalized as a citizen. One must swear the oath of allegiance, pass a civics test, and prove \u201cgood moral character,\u201d that they are \u201cattached to the principles of the Constitution,\u201d and that they are \u201cwell-disposed to the good order and happiness of the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Majority witness George Fishman, senior legal fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies, traced the weakening of vetting requirements back to the Clinton Administration\u2019s desire to increase its voter base.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere was a concerted effort to get as many people naturalized as possible because [the Clinton Administration] were promised by advocacy groups that they\u2019d all vote in the 1996 election for the president and vice president.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Cruz also pointed to Biden and Obama\u2019s failure to properly vet naturalization applicants, noting that such \u201cfailures ripple forward in time.\u201d He\u00a0cited the <a href=\"https:\/\/abcnews.com\/US\/search-motive-ongoing-after-austin-bar-shooting-left\/story?id=130669367\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Austin mass shooting<\/a> in March 2026, whose perpetrator was a Senegalese national with several arrests who was naturalized under the Obama administration.\u00a0Wearing a sweatshirt that read \u201cProperty of Allah,\u201d the man killed three people and injured fifteen more in the shooting. <\/p>\n<p>Both Republicans and Democrats on the subcommittee agreed that the naturalization vetting process has major flaws that allow for abuse and fraud.\u00a0But that still did not stop Democrats from pushing the idea that citizenship is a privilege for immigrants rather than something to be earned.<\/p>\n<p>The major point of disagreement was the idea put forward by the SCAM Act that citizenship for immigrants is a privilege, and people who commit certain crimes after the five-year naturalization window should still be punished as immigrants, not like American-born citizens. <\/p>\n<p>Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, noted that naturalized citizens can be prosecuted under the same laws as any other American citizen, so to punish them by denaturalization is to make them \u201csecond-class citizens.\u201d She smeared the SCAM Act as an effort to \u201cterrorize immigrant communities\u201d and tell \u201c24 million Americans that their citizenship can be questioned.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As previously mentioned, Cuccinelli did point out the dangers of failing to denaturalize immigrant criminals before it is too late. However, he\u00a0also\u00a0argued\u00a0that it would be much simpler for Congress to fix the vetting problems\u00a0that\u00a0allowed terrorists\u00a0and fraudsters to become naturalized citizens\u00a0in the first place\u00a0than to expand denaturalization power\u00a0via the SCAM Act.\u00a0He argued\u00a0that such power\u00a0is\u00a0very narrow and subject to the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s this factory line mentality that, in fact, the burden of proof is on the government to deny people, and that is not what the law says. The law says the burden is on the prospective immigrant to prove \u2026 that they will participate and contribute to the well-being and good order of the United States. We do not hold them to that proof.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The SCAM Act was introduced in the Senate in January 2026, and this week\u2019s Senate Judiciary Subcommittee Hearing on the Constitution effectively weighed the merits of the denaturalization bill before it moves to Senate discussion.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Luke Miller is a contributor for The Federalist who is studying political economy and journalism at Hillsdale College.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Schmitt says citizenship for naturalized immigrants should be revoked for oath betrayal, backing his SCAM Act<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4303,"featured_media":2611034,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/5386418b-b873-4458-9599-57e10c7f6e67.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[58155,80873,36382,3709],"class_list":["post-2611033","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-denaturalization","tag-foreign-fraud","tag-immigration-policy","tag-senators"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/5386418b-b873-4458-9599-57e10c7f6e67.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2611033","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4303"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2611033"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2611033\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2611037,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2611033\/revisions\/2611037"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2611034"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2611033"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2611033"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2611033"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}