US President Donald Trump and officials from his administration have hinted that they might consider revoking the US citizenship ofZohran Mamdani, New York City’s Democratic mayoral candidate Separately, Trump said former aideElon Muskwould have to “close up shop and head back home to South Africa” amid a row over histax breaks and Trump’s narrowly passed spending bill But would the Trump administration have the power to revoke the citizenship of Mamdani and Musk, both foreign-born, naturalised citizens of the US Mamdani, 33, was born in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, to ethnically Indian parents
He moved to New York at the age of seven and became a naturalised US citizen in 2018 Musk was born in 1971 in Pretoria, South Africa to a Canadian mother and South African father At the age of 17, he moved to Canada of where he is also a citizen In 1992, he moved to the US to study at the University of Pennsylvania
He became a naturalised US citizen in 2002, according to a biography of him written in 2023 by journalist Walter Isaacson In October 2024, the Washington Post reported that Musk began his career in the US without the proper work authorisation, but Musk has denied this “I was in fact allowed to work in the US,” Musk wrote in an X post on the same day the report was published “I was on a J-1 visa that transitioned to an H1-B,” Musk wrote in another post
A J-1 visa is a temporary visa for foreign students, while an H-1B is a temporary work visa To become naturalised as a US citizen, an individual needs to be above the age of 18 and to have lived continuously in the US as a green card holder for five years, or three years if they are married to a US citizen Andy Ogles, a Republican Tennessee representative, wrote to Attorney General Pam Bondi on June 26, asking for the Department of Justice to probe whether Mamdani, who identifies as ademocratic socialist, should be subject to denaturalisation proceedings Posting a copy of the letter to Bondi on his X page, Ogles wrote: “Zohran ‘little muhammad’ Mamdani is an antisemitic, socialist, communist who will destroy the great City of New York
He needs to be DEPORTED Which is why I am calling for him to be subject to denaturalization proceedings.”
Ogles said that the investigation should be conducted on the grounds that Mamdani may have procured US citizenship through “willful misrepresentation or concealment of material support for terrorism.”
The Tennessee Republican cited reports, including an article published in the New York Post, stating that Mamdani expressed solidarity with “individuals convicted of terrorism-related offenses prior to becoming a US citizen.” Ogles said that Mamdani rapped “Free the Holy Land Five / My guys.”
“The Holy Land Foundation was convicted in 2008 for providing material support to Hamas, a designated foreign terrorist organization Publicly praising the Foundation’s convicted leadership as ‘my guys’ raises serious concerns about whether Mr Mamdani held affiliations or sympathies he failed to disclose during the naturalization process,” Ogles wrote in his letter to Bondi
“Moreover, Mr Mamdani has recently refused opportunities to reject the pro-terrorist rallying cry to ‘globalize the intifada’ a call to expand violent attacks on civilians to the United States and around the world,” Ogles wrote Mamdani has also pledged to stop masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents “from deporting our neighbours” When Trump was asked about this on Tuesday at a news conference, he said that if Mamdani prevents ICE agents from conducting deportation operations, “Well, then, we’ll have to arrest him.”
“We don’t need a communist in this country, but if we have one, I’m going to be watching over him very carefully on behalf of the nation,” Trump said, adding, “we’ll send him money, we’ll send him all the things he needs to run the government.”
Source: NewZimbabwe
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Source: Newzimbabwe
