Paul Revere by Cyrus Dallin, North End, Boston

Tuesday, July 1, 2025

WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO AMERICA?

Zohran Mamdan was democratically elected to be the Democratic nominee for mayor of New York City. Trump isn't happy with that, so he's going to send his personal lawyer, Pam Bondi, and the DoJ to look into denaturalization because he said so.

America, open your eyes. An American president threatens to denaturalize a duly elected citizen because he disagrees 
with that citizen's politics.

Why are you allowing this??? Why aren't you marching in the streets against Trump and his anti-American administration???



President Donald Trump called the citizenship status of Zohran Mamdani — the Democratic nominee for mayor of New York City — into question at a Tuesday afternoon press conference in South Florida, falsely implying that he could be in the country illegally. 

 “A lot of people are saying he’s here illegally,” Trump said of the 33-year-old democratic socialist. “We’re going to look at everything. And ideally, he’s going to turn out to be much less than a communist, but right now, he’s a communist.”

 


From Alternet:

"Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tennessee) is calling for Democratic New York City mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani, who was born in Uganda but is a naturalized U.S. citizen, to lose his citizenship — a proposal he made in a letter to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi. 


And Ogles isn't the only far-right MAGA Republican who is pushing for the denaturalization of people they disagree with politically. The Trump Administration is not only pushing for an end to birthright citizenship, but also, for ramping up denaturalization and stripping more people of their U.S. citizenship. 

 In an op-ed published by MSNBC's website on July 1, law professors Cassandra Burke Robertson and Irina D. Manta argue that the denaturalization push from MAGA Republicans is at odds with "constitutional principles." 

The Trump Administration made denaturalization a priority during the first term, creating a special Justice Department section to pursue these cases," the legal experts explain. 

"The Administration now appears positioned to expand these efforts with a policy requiring that denaturalization be pursued wherever legally possible. As the apparent next step in the Trump Administration's mass deportation regime, this rarely used but potentially far-reaching government power is getting newfound attention." 

 Robertson and Manta add, "As legal scholars who study denaturalization, we believe the new Justice Department policy could significantly expand the circumstances under which naturalized Americans might lose their citizenship in ways that raise serious constitutional questions." 

 The attorneys point out that denaturalization "was relatively rare" during "most of American history." "It spiked during the Red Scare era when the government targeted alleged communists and Nazi sympathizers but largely disappeared after the 1960s after the Supreme Court imposed constitutional limits on the practice in Afroyim v. Rusk," Robertson and Manta note. 

"In that case, the Court held denaturalization was unconstitutional in most circumstances, leaving open only cases in which someone 'illegally procured' citizenship by not meeting requirements or obtaining it through fraud or concealment of material facts. 

In the half-century after this decision, fewer than 150 Americans were denaturalized, mostly former war criminals who had hidden their pasts." 

According to Robertson and Manta, MAGA Republicans' denaturalization push could lead to troubling violations of constitutional liberties. 

 "Civil denaturalization cases provide no right to an attorney, meaning defendants without resources often face the government without representation," the legal scholars argue write. 

"There are no jury trials, with judges making citizenship determinations alone. The burden of proof is 'clear and convincing evidence' rather than the criminal standard of 'beyond a reasonable doubt.' 

Additionally, there is no statute of limitations, allowing the government to build cases on decades-old evidence that may be incomplete or unreliable." Robertson and Manta continue, "We believe this procedural framework violates constitutional principles. 

The Supreme Court has recognized citizenship as a fundamental right, with Chief Justice Earl Warren describing it as the 'right to have rights.' Taking away such a fundamental right through procedures that would be inadequate for minor civil disputes appears to violate basic due process protections. More fundamentally, we argue that aggressive denaturalization policies conflict with constitutional principles of citizenship." 





19 comments:

skudrunner said...

Nominating him is business as usual for the dems. Guess they didn't learn a thing from the trouncing in the presidential election. I don't think the people of NYC are stupid enough to elect him but people do stupid things. The democrats nominated kamala and the republicans nominated the donald, just shows stupid does run deep. The public said we don't think we need to give everything we worked for away and if you want to enter the US do it legally. Guess the dems didn't learn.

Dave Miller said...

Shaw, can I add to the "how the hell do you still support this guy" sentiment of this post?

If the Washington Times, a conservative leaning news outlet, is to be believed, Trump, at a final press conference at the NATO summit did approved something no president in our history as been known to have done.

Here's their report... again, from the Washington Times.

President Trump said Iranian leaders cleared their plan [to retaliate] with the U.S. to fire retaliatory strikes against an American airbase in Qatar, and even requested a specific time to attack.

“They said, ’We’re going to shoot them. Is one o’clock OK?’ I said it’s fine. And everybody was emptied off the base so they couldn’t get hurt, except for the gunners,” Mr. Trump said at a press conference in the Netherlands, where he is attending a NATO summit.



Monday’s Iranian attack, the Times said, on Al Udeid Air Base, the largest U.S. military installation in the region, was repelled by missile defense batteries, and there were no casualties, the Pentagon said.

Stop and take this in. A sitting US President, admitted, on camera at a NATO press conference, that he gave permission to a foreign adversary, Iran, to attack a US military base.

Literally, I'm speechless.

Dave Miller said...

Skud... nobody nominated Mamdani, he won a primary. Big difference.

As you say often, they had to choose between this guy and a serial sexual assaulter.

Shaw Kenawe said...

Skud, do you know anything about Mamdani? Why do you claim you don't think the people of NYC are "stupid enough" to elect him? What is it about his background that makes you say that? Do you not know that many sections of NYC that went 20+ points for Trump in 2024 voted for him by 10+ points? Why do you suppose those people who voted for Trump switched and voted for Mamdani?

Are you anti-Muslim? Are you, like the sailors on the Mother Ship and Trump, one of those who thinks that all Muslims are "communists" or "radicals" or other such things? Tell us what you know about him and where you got your information.

From what I've read about him, he, unlike your president, was never indicted for crimes nor found guilty of felonies, nor sexual assault, nor cheating people out of money, so that makes him far and away a better American citizen than your president.

It's okay to not agree with his politics, but to threaten him with being arrested and denaturalized is something one would hear a dictator/fascist threaten, not a real American. IMO, Trump is the threat to our democracy, not Mamdani. The facts point to that opinion.

BB-Idaho said...

Man has bizarre hobbies. Now he wants DOGE to go through Musk's companies. Surprised he hasn't appointed a horse to the Senate.

Les Carpenter said...

Not surprized. At all. This is to be expected from the Orange Turd.

The FOTUS is a disgrace to the human race. A lying POS. A disaster on steriods. An evil and despicable lump of human excrement.

What has happened to America? Donald Trump and his MAGA con. America blindly and ignorantly reelected him even given his tract record of failures.

We got what we bought. An idiot lacking in intelligence, decency, integrity, honesty, compassion, empathy, and every and anything else that defines a decent human being.

Shaw Kenawe said...

Imagine if Barack Obama(or any other POTUS!) had done what Trump did. Just imagine.

This is AI's response to my question about a US president giving permission to an enemy to bomb a US Army base:

"The President, as Commander in Chief, is responsible for the defense of the United States and its military personnel. Allowing an enemy attack on a military base would be a direct violation of this duty.

Historically, when U.S. military bases have been attacked, such as at Pearl Harbor or in recent years in the Middle East, the attacks are viewed as serious incidents, often with significant consequences, including loss of life.
While the President has broad powers to deploy forces and engage in military operations to protect national security, this does not extend to intentionally allowing enemy attacks on U.S. military bases.


IMO, what Trump did is a screaming impeachable offense and never seen in our history.

What the hell happened to America? Where is the outrage on this indefensible act of, IMO, treason by Trump?

Shaw Kenawe said...

From Mother Jones magazine:

"Even by the standards of the Trump era, this talk of terrorism and denaturalization is despicable stuff—rank religious bigotry mixed with naked authoritarianism. It’s getting close to throwing-people-out-of-helicopters territory (which, to be clear, a Republican member of the New York City council has already shared a meme about doing). A White House official suggesting a political opponent might be stripped of their citizenship is unfathomable in a functioning democracy. Shouting that this is “authoritarian” does not quite do it justice; they are literally proposing to do to Mamdani what Idi Amin did to his father."

[skip]

"Attacking people’s citizenship and identity as punishment for their politics is a fascist move. It will destroy the country’s civic life if unchallenged. (Resist the temptation to cheer on Trump’s suggestion that he might do the same to Elon Musk; it is a poison for the soul.) "


NOTE: I couldn't find anything about what Amin did to his father.

Les Carpenter said...

I've felt for some time America has been approaching the abyss. With the reelection of the ignorant FOTUS we are now standing at the precipice with our toes over the edge.

Shaw Kenawe said...

Wall Street Gets A Trump Tax Break To Fire Workers

Lawmakers quietly added a line that effectively subsidizes Wall Street buying up companies, slashing wages, closing factories, and firing workers.

skudrunner said...

It will be interesting to see how government run day care, government run grocery stores and how free transportation works. He thinks police should be reduced and ICE should be eliminated. He is antisemitic in a jewish city and everything he proposes will be paid for by the rich or at least those left. Great plan.

Shaw Kenawe said...



Tom Allon

Tom Allon

"He is not an antisemite or a Communist, as quite a few people – even those in public office who should know better – are trying to brand him.

The top consultant on his campaign is Morris Katz and his chief spokesman is Andrew Epstein, both of whom are Jewish New Yorkers.

Late in the campaign, Mamdani developed a political bromance with one of his chief rivals – city Comptroller Brad Lander, a Park Slope progressive Jew who takes his religion very seriously. They even went as far as cross-endorsing each other, a move that virtually assured a Mamdani victory and doomed any chance that Lander had at making a late surge in the race.

Like Lander, many liberal Jews strongly supported Mamdani’s vision for the city and were thrilled when he won. As Michelle Goldberg recently wrote in The New York Times, they see his success as a victory for the peaceful coexistence of different groups in the city, not as a victory for antisemitism.

Many of the claims that Mamdani is antisemitic seem to be based on his outspoken criticism of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians.

For many Jewish New Yorkers, particularly older Jews like myself, it is shocking to hear a Democratic candidate speak so critically about the Jewish State, endorsing the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel and even refusing to say that Israel has the right to exist as a “Jewish state.”

Mamdani instead says Israel should exist as “a state with equal rights for all,” which represents a dramatic shift from the older ideal that Israel should be both “Jewish and democratic.”

Dave Miller said...

Skud... you seem to have missed the point of the post.

I may not agree with Mamdani's politics, but so what? The only question we are considering here today is whether he has a right to run for election on those views and win or lose, remain in this country as a US citizen.

The current MAGA crowd, you seemingly included, think only those with whom they agree have a right to seek election, or even win an election. For evidence see exhibits J6 and BushvGore.

Why can't you focus on the issue before us?

Is it right to even threaten a US citizen with deportation and loss of citizenship because of that person's political views?

The Trump favoring crowd of MAGA lovers, interestingly silent on this, seems to think not.

How about you?

Les Carpenter said...

Another example of intentional othering and engaging in lying to do it.

And we're to trust and accept MAGA and the FOTUS as truthfull? No thanks. The stench is too overwhelmingly and the intention nefarious.

skudrunner said...

Dave, Of curse he has a right and he is running for the appropriate party. He has spoken about his experiences growing up in a "third world" when in fact he grew up in the US.

I'm sure you believe he was raised in a third world country but you also believe thousands are having their medicaid and SNAP. You believe this because the left told you. What they didn't tell you is the budget is not being decreased for folks who cannot work but from those who choose not to.

"The recent budget bill includes changes to SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) work requirements, impacting certain able-bodied adults. Specifically, those aged 18-59 without dependents, or with dependents over a certain age (e.g., 10), may face time limits on SNAP benefits if they don't meet work or work-related activity requirements." The work requirements are 80 hours per MONTH or community service. You feel that is OK but for those supporting them at our expense it is not.

Shaw Kenawe said...

Mamdani spent the first 7 years of his life in a third world country, then spent some time in South Africa, then his family moved to New York. His parents are Indian -- father is Muslim; mother is Hindu.

I don't know what you mean when you claim he's running for the appropriate party.

I do know that Mr. Mamdani is not a convicted felon, nor has he been adjudicated a sexual assaulter, and a known serial adulterer, as is Trump. Mamdani also wasn't a heroine addict for 15 years, didn't keep a diary of all the women he cheated on his wife with (35+ women), and didn't tell the world he had a worm eating his brain, as JFK,Jr., did. Mamdani also, isn't a drunk who cheated on his first wife with his second wife, and while his second wife was pregnant, impregnated his current wife, as Hegseth did.

So, yes, I guess you're correct when you say Mr. Mamdani is running for the appropriate party. What decent American would want to be associated with the political party that has Trump, Hegseth, and Kennedy as leaders?!

Shaw Kenawe said...

One other thing, before I hear anything more about Mamdani's supposed (false) antisemitism.

Donald Trump invited Nick Fuentes as a guest to Mar-a-Largo to have dinner with him when Biden was POTUS. Trump said this about Fuentes: "He gets me."

This is Mr. Fuentes:

"Fuentes, who kicked off his rant by announcing, “I love you, and I love Hitler,” also targeted “Talmudic Jews,” a white supremacist and antisemitic term for Jewish people.

While insisting that he doesn’t want to hurt anyone, Fuentes said “Talmudic Jews” need to either leave the county or be converted. Following the event, influential Groyper Clodfelter took to Telegram to praise for Fuentes’ speech: "Talmudic Judaism has entrenched itself in the highest echelons of power all over the world...Replacing what was once beautiful with something disgusting."


Dave Miller said...

Once again Skud, you deflect from the point of this post. YOU and people like you openly support a president and his enablers in Congress who, based on statements the president has made and which the GOP has not disavowed, support removal of citizenship and right to be in the US simply because of his political views.

That's the point of Shaw's post. Yet for some reason you, like many trolls, are unable to address that central fact.

I have no idea what Mamdani stands for. I paid no attention to the race to be the mayor of NY. But a POTUS inserting himself into local politics and threatening deportation over political views is something I find shocking.

You apparently, not so much.

Shaw Kenawe said...

There's also this vomitus nugget:

"Pardoned Jan. 6 Rioter (Jared Wise) Who Threatened Police Joins Justice Dept.

The pardoned rioter, a former F.B.I. agent who was charged with encouraging the mob that stormed the Capitol, is a counselor to Ed Martin, the director of the so-called weaponization committee.

"As violence erupted, his charging document said, he told other rioters who were attacking law enforcement officers, 'Kill ’em! Kill ’em! Kill ’em!'

He then raised his arms in celebration after breaching the Capitol in a face mask... and escaped through a window..."


That's today's Republican Party. They've rewarded this violent hooligan with a job in Trump's administration.

"Hell is empty, and all the Devils are here." --Wm. Shakespeare