There was a Supreme Court ruling in the 1960s that seems especially relevant lately.
In the ruling, Black wrote: “The very nature of our free government makes it completely incongruous to have a rule of law under which a group of citizens temporarily in office can deprive another group of citizens of their citizenship.”
Notably, exceptions to the ruling have been made where Americans are denaturalized for being too racist.
“Although its use has been substantially reduced,” Weil wrote, “since 1967 denaturalization is still available on two basic grounds. The first of these grounds applies to individuals who have committed gross violations of human rights.” This primarily focused on naturalized Americans with undisclosed [racist] pasts. “In contrast to judicial skepticism of expatriation in the 1960s and 1970s, courts have not challenged the authority of the government to denaturalize individuals responsible for committing human rights violations,” he adds.
That’s all very useful context when reading the news these days, where Trump’s well documented history (and current spate) of human rights violations make him the most obvious top candidate for denaturalization.
Mamdani took to social media hours later to slam the President’s comments, saying that Trump had threatened to arrest him “not because I have broken any law but because I will refuse to let ICE terrorize our city.”
“His statements don’t just represent an attack on our democracy but an attempt to send a message to every New Yorker who refuses to hide in the shadows: if you speak up, they will come for you,” Mamdani said in his statement. “We will not accept this intimidation.”
Mamdani is right to stand firm and protect Americans against bogus claims, given Trump’s threats of denaturalization apply most directly and clearly to Trump himself.
Comedians perhaps explain it best.