A Republican senator in the United States wants to expand the federal government’s power to take away the citizenship of naturalised Americans. The proposal is designed in a way that its supporters believe can survive legal challenges in court.
Senator Eric Schmitt of Missouri has introduced the Stop Citizenship Abuse and Misrepresentation Act, known as the SCAM Act, Fox News reported. The bill comes after the Minnesota fraud controversy and aims to make the process of denaturalisation ‘faster and easier’ for the government.
What is the SCAM bill?
Explaining why the bill is needed, Schmitt said, according to IANS, that recent cases of fraud show the current system is not strong enough. He pointed to a major welfare fraud case in Minnesota that involved several naturalised US citizens. According to him, people who commit serious crimes after becoming citizens show that they never truly deserved citizenship in the first place.
“American citizenship is a privilege,” Schmitt said in a press statement. He added that anyone who commits felony fraud, serious crimes, or joins terrorist groups fails to meet the basic standards of being an American. Such people, he said, should lose their citizenship because they never met the legal requirements to begin with.
If passed, the SCAM Act would widen the reasons under which the government can start civil cases to cancel someone’s citizenship. These reasons would include fraud against federal, state, or local welfare programs, links with a foreign terrorist organisation officially listed by the US, and serious crimes such as aggravated felonies or espionage.
A 10-year window after Citizenship
The SCAM Act sets a 10-year period after someone becomes a US citizen. During this time, if a person commits or admits to such crimes, it can be treated as strong proof that they lied or hid important facts during the naturalisation process. This could lead to their citizenship being taken away and them being removed from the country.
Meanwhile, under current US law, revoking citizenship is difficult. The government must prove that citizenship was obtained illegally or through deliberate lies. Immigration and citizenship remain highly sensitive political issues in Washington. Proposals like the SCAM Act are expected to be closely watched not only in the US but also in other countries, including India, which has a large immigrant population in America.
White House backs the move
The proposal has support from the White House. Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff for policy and homeland security adviser, strongly backed the bill.
Referring to the Minnesota welfare fraud case, Miller, according to Fox News, called it “one of the greatest financial scandals in American history.” He said immigrants who commit fraud against the United States should be denaturalised and deported.
According to a summary released along with the bill, the Minnesota case involved a federally funded children’s nutrition program. More than 70 people were charged or convicted in the case, and many of them were naturalised citizens.
Prosecutors alleged that at least $250 million was stolen. The bill argues that such actions show the people involved were not of good moral character when they applied for citizenship. It also says they were not committed to the principles of the US Constitution or to the country’s well-being.