Tom Emmer

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.

“This horrific pattern of naturalized citizens committing acts of terrorism against the American people must end,” he stated on X.

Other Republican figures—including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, and Missouri Senator Eric Schmitt—shared similar sentiments on Friday.

Why It Matters

A string of high-profile attacks involving naturalized U.S. citizens has intensified a Republican push to broaden the circumstances under which the federal government can seek denaturalization—a rare, court-driven process historically tied to fraud or ineligibility at the time citizenship was granted. The debate is now colliding with live national-security investigations and could shape how lawmakers and prosecutors frame citizenship, punishment, and deportation in terrorism-related cases.

What to Know

DeSantis reacted on Friday to a shooting at Virginia's Old Dominion University (ODU), in which Mohamed Bailor Jalloh opened fire Thursday in a classroom, killing one person and injuring two others before ROTC students subdued and killed him. Jalloh was a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from Sierra Leone, according to court filings. He was sentenced to 11 years in prison in 2017 for attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State (ISIS), but he got out early in 2024 after completing a drug treatment program, according to the Associated Press. He was on supervised release at the time of the attack.

“That this jihadi was allowed to immigrate to this country in the first place represents a huge failure,” DeSantis posted to X on Friday. “That he was convicted of providing material support to terrorism and retained his citizenship is ridiculous. Had he been denaturalized and deported the ODU terror attack would never have happened.”

Emmer, a Minnesota Republican, posted to X on Friday. “The security of our nation hinges on our ability to denaturalize and deport terrorists. No sane country would let them stay.”

Schmitt referenced Jalloh being a naturalized citizen, posting to X on Friday: “Congress should pass the SCAM Act so we can denaturalize and deport those who fraudulently obtained citizenship and never should have been here in the first place. Mohammad Jalloh is exactly why.”

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.

Conservative commentator Will Cain noted on X on Friday that a recent spate of attacks, including the ODU one, involved naturalized citizens.

In one example he provided, Ndiaga Diagne, a naturalized citizen originally from Senegal, killed three people and wounded more than a dozen others after opening fire at a bar in Austin, Texas, earlier this month. Afterwards, Texas Governor Greg Abbott said that, amid the Iran War, his state was “taking seriously the possibility of terrorist activity,” adding that “you could have either sleeper cells or lone wolves acting.”

In another example cited by Cain, naturalized citizen Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, born in Lebanon, drove a car into Temple Israel, a synagogue in West Bloomfield, Michigan, on Thursday and died at the scene after exchanging gunfire with security.

Cain also mentioned the two teenagers who threw improvised explosive devices (IEDs) last weekend outside of the New York City mayor’s residence, the site of an anti-Islam protest and counter-protest. The teens—Emir Balat and Ibrahim Kayumi, now in custody—admitted to police they were inspired by ISIS. According to CBS News, Balat’s parents are naturalized citizens who immigrated from Turkey, while Kayumi’s parents, from Afghanistan, became naturalized between 2004 and 2009.

What People Are Saying

Dan Bongino, former deputy director of the FBI, to Fox News on Friday: “If you're convicted of a terrorism charge, that should be mandatory denaturalization."

UCLA law professor Ahilan Arulanantham to WBUR in December: "Somebody who's been a naturalized citizen and then is convicted of a crime, they go to prison just like other citizens. But the fact that you've been convicted of a crime by itself does not render you eligible for denaturalization."

Conservative activist Laura Loomer, in response to the ODU attack by Jalloh: “How was a Muslim immigrant who was previously convicted for providing material support to ISIS still living in our country?"

President Donald Trump to reporters last December: "If we have criminals that came into our country and they were naturalized, maybe through Biden or somebody that didn't know what they were doing. If I have the power to do it—I'm not sure that I do, but if I do, I would denaturalize. Absolutely."

What Happens Next

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.

Meanwhile, investigations tied to the incidents cited by lawmakers are still developing. Federal authorities are scrutinizing how Jalloh was released early from custody, the FBI continues to assess potential terrorism motives in the Austin case, and the Department of Justice has announced terrorism-related charges against Balat and Kayumi in New York.

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