Move comes after rightwing Republican accuses New York City mayoral candidate of concealing support for ‘terrorism’
The Trump administration has raised the possibility of stripping Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic mayoral candidate for New York City, of his US citizenship as part of a crackdown against foreign-born citizens convicted of certain offences.
Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, appeared to pave the way for an investigation into Mamdani’s status after Andy Ogles, a rightwing Republican representative for Tennessee, called for his citizenship to be revoked on the grounds that he may have concealed his support for “terrorism” during the naturalization process.
Mamdani, 33, who was born in Uganda to ethnic Indian parents, became a US citizen in 2018 and has attracted widespread media attention – and controversy – over his vocal support for Palestinian rights.
In this specific case? We’ve spent the last two decades watching overly broad anti terrorism laws get passed under the implicit agreement they wouldn’t be abused. Then comes Trump. Americans have been asleep at the wheel since the 1970’s. That’s part of why right wing rhetoric keeps getting more extreme. They need to keep their voting base engaged. Most people don’t want anything to do with politics. If that doesn’t change then no amount of reform will prevent us from voting ourselves out of a democracy.