Rep. Riley Moore announced legislation to denaturalize and deport naturalized citizens who commit or support terrorism, citing a string of violent incidents by individuals who obtained U.S. citizenship and arguing current rules are too weak to protect Americans.
Rep. Riley Moore said the country is facing a “horrific pattern” of naturalized citizens committing acts of terror, and that it “must end.” He plans to introduce a bill in Congress to strip citizenship from anyone who commits an act of terror, plots an attack, joins a terrorist group or aids and abets violent extremism.
The proposal immediately drew backing from fellow Republicans, including Rep. Brandon Gill and Rep. Randy Fine, who pledged support for tougher denaturalization measures. Their position is straightforward: if someone uses citizenship as cover to harm Americans, citizenship should not shield them from removal.
Recent incidents are the driving force behind this push. Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, a naturalized citizen from Lebanon, allegedly tried to ram his vehicle into a Michigan synagogue, while Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, a naturalized citizen from Sierra Leone, reportedly opened fire at Old Dominion University, killing Lt. Col. Brandon Shah.
There have been other alarming episodes: two men linked to naturalized parents were accused of plotting a bombing at an anti-Islam demonstration in New York City, and Ndiaga Diagne, a Senegalese-born naturalized citizen, stands accused of a deadly shooting in Austin earlier this month. These cases feed a political argument that current protections are insufficient.
Sen. Eric Schmitt has renewed calls to move the Stop Citizenship Abuse and Misrepresentation Act, known as the SCAM Act, which he sponsors in the Senate. He wrote on X: “after the SAVE America Act, we must pass the SCAM Act so we can denaturalize & deport those who are here to hurt Americans. We must denaturalize those who shouldn’t be here.”
The SCAM Act would broaden the narrow circumstances today that allow the government to revoke naturalized citizenship. Right now denaturalization is largely limited to clear fraud during the naturalization process, and the federal bar is high to prove that fraud occurred.
Under the SCAM Act, denaturalization could follow participation in terrorism, fraud against government programs, espionage or aggravated felonies within a defined window after naturalization. Supporters argue this fills a legal gap so dangerous actors cannot hide behind a passport once they reveal violent intent.
Schmitt has been blunt in his public remarks, saying “we need to give the Trump admin the SCAM Act. Under current law, it is practically impossible to denaturalize these terrorists.” He also insisted the measure “will allow the Trump admin to denaturalize and deport those who should never have been granted citizenship in the first place.”
Republicans pushing this approach frame it as common-sense national security and immigration enforcement, not a political stunt. They argue the question is simple: citizenship confers rights, but it should not be a shield for people who plot or commit violence against Americans.
Critics will say denaturalization is harsh and legally complex, warning about due process and the risk of mistakes. Proponents counter that the SCAM Act builds procedural safeguards while expanding the government’s tools to act when evidence shows someone used citizenship to facilitate or conceal terrorism.
Lawmakers on the right see momentum after a week of high-profile incidents involving naturalized citizens, and they are moving quickly to translate outrage into legislation. The bill’s backers are banking on a straightforward message: if you become a citizen and then turn to terror, you should lose that citizenship and be removed.
This debate will test how Congress balances civil liberties with aggressive national security enforcement, and Republicans leading the charge are framing the fight as a duty to protect communities and restore confidence in the immigration system. The spotlight is now on lawmakers to decide whether the legal framework will change to make denaturalization a more practical tool against violent radicals.
