Republicans push to strip Zohran Mamdani of US citizenship. Is it possible?

After Zohran Mamdani handily won the New York City mayoral election, becoming the city’s archetypal Muslim and archetypal South Asian mayor-elect, Republican detractors successful Washington said they would effort to halt him from taking office.

President Donald Trump, who threatened to withhold national funds to New York City if Mamdani won, lent credence to misleading questions astir Mamdani’s citizenship and falsely accused the Ugandan-born 34-year-old of being a communist.

Some Republican lawmakers requested investigations into Mamdani’s naturalisation process and person called for stripping him of his United States citizenship and deporting him, accusing him without grounds of embracing communist and “terrorist” activities.

“If Mamdani lied connected his naturalisation documents, helium doesn’t get to beryllium a citizen, and helium surely doesn’t get to tally for politician of New York City. A large American metropolis is connected the precipice of being tally by a communist who has publically embraced a terroristic ideology,” Representative Andy Ogles from the Republican enactment said successful an October 29 quality release, aft asking US Attorney General Pam Bondi to analyse Mamdani.

“The American naturalisation strategy REQUIRES immoderate alignments with communism oregon violent activities to beryllium disclosed. I’m doubtful helium disclosed them. If this is confirmed, enactment him connected the archetypal formation backmost to Uganda.”

Randy Fine, the Republican typical from Florida, misrepresented Mamdani’s clip successful the US erstwhile helium said connected October 27 connected Newsmax, “The barbarians are nary longer astatine the gate, they’re inside. … And Mamdani, having conscionable moved present 8 years ago, is simply a large illustration of that, becoming a citizen. Look, it is wide with overmuch of what I person work that helium did not conscionable the explanation to summation citizenship.”

PolitiFact recovered nary credible grounds that Mamdani lied connected his citizenship application.

Born successful Uganda, Mamdani moved to the US successful 1998 erstwhile helium was 7 and became a US national successful 2018. For adults to go US citizens, they mostly indispensable person lived continuously successful the state arsenic a lawful imperishable nonmigratory for 5 years, oregon 3 years if joined to a US citizen.

Denaturalisation, the process of revoking a person’s citizenship, tin beryllium done lone by judicial order. It’s been utilized sparingly, specified arsenic for removing Nazis who fled to the US aft World War II oregon radical convicted of oregon associated with “terrorism”.

Immigration instrumentality experts said they person seen nary grounds to enactment Ogles and Fine’s assertions astir Mamdani’s application.

“Denaturalisation is an extreme, uncommon remedy that requires the authorities to beryllium either amerciable procurement oregon a willful, worldly prevarication – astatine a minimum, clear, unequivocal and convincing grounds that the information would person changed the result astatine the clip of naturalisation,” said migration lawyer Jeremy McKinney. “I’ve seen nary credible impervious helium was ineligible erstwhile helium took the oath oregon that immoderate omission was material.”

Ogles and Fine did not respond to PolitiFact’s requests for remark by publication.

Attacks connected Mamdani’s naturalisation process are flimsy, migration experts say

The propulsion to question Mamdani’s citizenship started in the summer when helium became the Democratic mayoral nominee.

In a June missive to Bondi, Ogles asked the Justice Department to prosecute denaturalisation proceedings against Mamdani, “on the grounds that helium whitethorn person procured US citizenship done willful misrepresentation oregon concealment of worldly enactment for terrorism”.

Ogles cited rap lyrics Mamdani wrote successful 2017 supporting the “Holy Land Five”, a notation to 5 men successful the Holy Land Foundation, a Muslim charity, convicted successful 2008 of providing worldly enactment to the Palestinian radical Hamas. Some lawyers person criticised the case’s grounds and usage of hearsay.

Ogles and Fine said Mamdani did not disclose his Democratic Socialists of America rank connected his citizenship exertion form; the lawmakers accidental it’s a communist organisation and Mamdani’s engagement could person disqualified him from citizenship.

The US naturalisation form asks whether applicants person been a member, progressive successful oregon associated with immoderate communist oregon totalitarian party. But the Democratic Socialists of America is not a communist party.

Democratic socialism emerged arsenic an alternate to communism, Harvey Klehr, an Emory University adept connected the past of American communism, antecedently told PolitiFact. Democratic socialists mostly “reject the communist hostility to typical democracy, arsenic good arsenic the communist content successful authorities ownership of the means of production,” Klehr said.

McKinney, the migration lawyer, said, “DSA rank isn’t a barroom to citizenship; failing to database a lawful governmental radical connected the (naturalisation form) doesn’t go fraud unless disclosure would person led to a denial. A lyric referencing the Holy Land Five is protected code absent existent worldly enactment to a designated overseas violent organisation.”

PolitiFact reached retired to Mamdani for remark but did not perceive back.

The anti-Muslim rhetoric during the run drew disapproval from the Council connected American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and adjacent members of the Democratic Party. CAIR, the Muslim advocacy group, called the request seeking denaturalisation proceedings against Mamdani arsenic racist and Islamophobic.

Mamdani, successful an interrogation with MSNBC successful October, besides spoke astir the anti-Muslim rhetoric during the campaign.

“I deliberation Islamophobia is thing that is endemic to authorities crossed this country,” Mamdani told MSNBC.

“And we person seen it normalised. We person seen it accepted. And it has travel to a constituent wherever to talk up astir it is seen arsenic if you are making it into an issue, whereas successful information you are naming that which already exists. And truthful overmuch of this is driven from an unwillingness to recognise that Muslims beryllium present successful the city.”

A propulsion to support Mamdani from taking office

The New York Young Republican Club is taking a antithetic tactic, citing the 14th Amendment, the New York Post reported.

The amendment bars from bureau anyone who “engaged successful insurrection oregon rebellion” oregon who has “given assistance oregon comfortableness to the enemies” of the country. The authorities GOP group said Mamdani provided “aid and comfort” to US enemies by supporting “pro-Hamas” groups and said helium supports gangs done his calls to defy Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

This would beryllium a long-shot propulsion for Congress to state Mamdani ineligible for office, requiring a two-thirds ballot successful some the House and Senate. If passed, it inactive could beryllium challenged up to the US Supreme Court.

Immigration experts told PolitiFact that calls to defy ICE agents bash not trigger the 14th Amendment, arsenic the applicable clause targets insurrection and assistance to wartime enemies, not home argumentation criticism.

How denaturalisation cases instrumentality shape

The Justice Department tin portion US citizenship by filing transgression charges for naturalisation fraud oregon a civilian lawsuit.

In either case, the authorities would person to beryllium that an applicant made a mendacious connection successful a citizenship application, and amusement that the connection would person affected the application.

The government’s modular to wide successful a transgression lawsuit – proving guilt “beyond a tenable doubt” – is higher than a civilian lawsuit modular of presenting “clear and convincing evidence.” The much communal civilian process lacks definite law protections, specified arsenic the close to a court-appointed lawyer, Cassandra Burke Robertson, a Case Western Reserve University instrumentality prof who studies denaturalisation, said.

Robertson said it’s “extraordinarily improbable that a proceeding against Mamdani would summation immoderate traction”.

“The bigger risk, successful my mind, is the imaginable chilling effect connected individuals with less resources who mightiness beryllium acrophobic to talk retired against the government,” Robertson said.

Although denaturalisations mostly person been uncommon successful the US, they’ve go much predominant nether the Trump administration, Irina Manta, a Hofstra University instrumentality prof who studies denaturalisation, said.

In June, the Justice Department issued a memo directing lawyers to prioritise denaturalisation cases. The memo’s database of precedence categories includes radical whom the medication says airs nationalist information concerns, pack members and a catchall class for “any different cases referred to the Civil Division that the Division determines to beryllium sufficiently important to pursue”.

If Mamdani were to person his citizenship revoked, his migration presumption would revert to his erstwhile 1 – lawful imperishable residence. That would disqualify him from serving arsenic New York City mayor.

PolitiFact Researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report.