Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., criticized Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, during Wednesday's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing after she accused the Trump administration of "terrorizing immigrant communities" during a session focused on the denaturalization of individuals convicted of fraud and other crimes.
Hirono, a naturalized citizen, remarked on the SCAM Act, or the Stop Citizenship Abuse and Misrepresentation Act, during the hearing, titled "Protecting American Citizenship III: Denaturalization and its Constitutional Limits." She argued that the bill would impose stricter requirements on naturalized citizens than those born in the United States.
"I happen to be the only naturalized citizen sitting on this committee, and I am horrified by the implication that naturalized citizens basically get second-class citizenship," she said. "As a naturalized citizen, I’m proud of it. I can’t think of a more undemocratic, un-American thing to do to someone who chooses to become a U.S. citizen than to hold this over their heads and treat us like second-class citizens."
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"We can talk about people 10 years later who commit murder or heinous acts, but the SCAM Act also allows people to be prosecuted for welfare fraud," she added.
Schmitt subsequently accused Hirono of defending criminals—including rapists, murderers, and fraudsters—who he said were ripping off taxpayers.
"What I'm saying in this bill is if you do those things to the American people, if you take advantage of taxpayers… if you commit a terrorist act, if you commit wholesale welfare fraud, within 10 years, you're damn right we're deporting you," he shot back. "If you are convicted in a court of law of these crimes, absolutely we should not only convict you, but we should deport you. Gone. And if you think that's some sort of negative assertion toward me, I'll take it. I love it."
The Trump administration has claimed that anti-fraud efforts have uncovered billions of dollars, enough to potentially balance the budget.
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"Vice President JD Vance and Republicans are doing a great job hunting down Fraud in the various States," Trump wrote Wednesday on Truth Social. "Billions of Dollars is being found, and we've just started!"
Republicans have called for naturalized U.S. citizens to be stripped of their citizenship if they are convicted of certain crimes, including fraud.
Schmitt recalled the case of Mirsad Ramic, who refused to recite the oath of allegiance and instead recited an Islamic oath and cursed non-Muslims at his 2009 naturalization ceremony. Ramic later joined the Islamic State terror group.
Schmitt also noted that Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, the suspected gunman in the Old Dominion University shooting who killed one person and injured two others, was also a naturalized U.S. citizen who had previously been convicted of providing material support to ISIS.
