Can Trump deport 'CRAZY' Musk and 'COMMUNIST' Mamdani: What is denaturalisation and how the US laws work?
US President Donald Trump has talked about the deportation of tech giant Elon Musk and New York's Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani in recent days. Trump said he will look into the possibility of deportation or denaturalisation. While he had a fallout with his former ‘buddy' Musk over ‘big and beautiful’ tax and spending bill, he targeted Mamdani after the New York Democratic Primary and called him ‘100% Communist Lunatic." Many from Trump’s team and his supporters have spoken about deportation, but is it really possible as per the laws of the United States? Here's what we know:
Elon Musk, originally from South Africa, became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2002 after first coming to the U.S. on a student visa in the 1990s. Before that, he was a citizen of Canada. Accusations that Musk was in the U.S. illegally during the early stages of his career have circulated, including a 2005 email in which Musk reportedly said he applied to Stanford University simply because he otherwise had "no legal right to stay in the country." Musk never enrolled and instead started his first company, Zip2.
Steve Bannon, Trump’s former advisor, has claimed Musk entered the US illegally and called for his deportation. He also suggested Musk’s alleged drug use warrants suspension of his security clearances. Musk has denied claims he was in the US illegally, calling his status at the time ‘a legal grey area’.
However, denaturalizing a US citizen—especially one who has held citizenship for over two decades—is extremely rare. So, only if Trump and his team can prove that Musk entered the US fraudulently, can there be a case for denaturalisation. The question here is whether or not Musk lied to the US government during the process of becoming a citizen. The process of denaturalisation is also lengthy. It would begin with the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) sending such a case to the Department of Justice (DOJ). The DOJ then files a revocation of naturalization actions (for civil denaturalisation cases) or criminal charges (for criminal denaturalisation cases) in federal court. A defendant can either defend themselves or renounce US citizenship. If the person is stripped of their citizenship, their status returns to that he or she had before becoming a citizen. In case their immigration status is unlawful, they can be deported immediately.
Republicans have called for Zohran Mamdani's deportation after he won the New York Democratic Primary. During an interview with Fox News, Trump's press secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked about Republican Representative Andy Ogles of Tennessee, who has called for denaturalisation proceedings against Mamdani, partly based on rap lyrics Mamdani allegedly wrote in 2017 referencing "terrorism." Leavitt responded, “Well, I’ll let the president speak to that. I have not seen those claims, but surely, if they are true, it’s something that should be investigated.” Meanwhile, other Republicans have made racist remarks against Mamdani and have asked him to leave the US, with Representative Brandon Gill telling the mayoral candidate to “go back to the Third World” after seeing him eat with his hands.
However, Mamdani's deportation is more of a political call as there is no legal basis. Zohran Mamdani obtained citizenship in 2018; he enjoys the same constitutional protections as any other citizen, whether natural-born or naturalized. Deportation laws primarily apply to non-citizens, such as permanent residents or undocumented immigrants. Once citizenship is granted, it is very difficult to reverse unless there are extraordinary circumstances. Mamdani has not been accused of any crimes or fraudulent behaviour related to his naturalisation that would justify stripping him of his citizenship. Here too, similar to Musk, the only process is denaturalisation, but there is no evidence that Mamdani lied or committed fraud during their naturalisation, or was involved in criminal activity before becoming a citizen that was concealed, or engaged in actions such as supporting terrorism or violent overthrow of the government. Even if there had been one, the government must prove its case convincingly in federal court.
Musk and Trump renewed their fight - this time about the EV subsidy in the United States of America. The war of words broke out after the Tesla boss posted non-stop about Trump's ‘big beautiful bill’, stating that a new ‘America Party’ will be launched if the bill is passed. In response, Trump said that he would have to return to South Africa if he didn't get EV subsidies in the US. Later, while he was on his way to Florida’s Alligator Alcatraz, a reporter asked Donald Trump whether Musk would be deported after he criticised Trump’s tax spending bill. He said, “I don’t know. We’ll have to take a look.” He also jokingly mentioned that he may deploy the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to investigate the Tesla CEO, saying, “DOGE is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon.” He added, "We'll have to take a look. We might have to put DOGE on Elon. You know what DOGE is? The monster that might have to go back and eat Elon. Wouldn’t that be terrible? He gets a lot of subsidies,” said Donald Trump.
Trump vs Mamdani
Trump said during a Tuesday press conference at a detention center in Florida referred to as “Alligator Alcatraz” that if Mamdani prevents ICE agents from conducting their operations to deport people, then "we’ll have to arrest him." He also mentioned false claims that Mamdani entered the country illegally. On a question of Mamdani's possible deportation, Trump said, “We’re going to be watching that very carefully, and a lot of people are saying he’s here illegally. We’re going to look at everything.” In a sharp response, Mamdani, who has won New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary, has said that he will not accept this "intimidation." In a statement on X, Mamdani said that he was threatened by the US president not because he broke any law but because he refuses to let ICE "terrorise the city."
The Democratic Party is in the doldrums.
For the past decade, it’s been so obsessed with trying to take down Donald Trump that it’s overlooked what it stands for. Former Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris certainly couldn’t conjure a coherent platform. Party infighting and chaos have ensued.
“We’re like a solar system with no sun,” U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin, a Democrat from Michigan, recently said in a speech at the Center for American Progress. “We don’t act as a team, and when we don’t work as a team, we turn our guns on each other, and it’s so, so, so, fruitless.”
As the party looks to the future, I’m wondering what direction it plans to go and what “team” will win.
Some Democrats – like Slotkin – have encouraged the party to embrace a message that appeals to a broader range of Americans. Even far-left California Gov. Gavin Newsom has dipped his toes in the waters of moderation, at least on some issues. Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman has no problem calling out the problematic progressives in his party.
Yet, there is another, more troubling, direction where it appears Democrats may go.
New York City Democrats in June went all in for self-proclaimed democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani, choosing the 33-year-old state legislator as their primary pick in the mayoral election this fall. They rejected the more “traditional” Democrat on the ballot, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
The leading takeaway from Mamdani’s victory in the nation's largest city seems to be that the party should take note and perhaps adopt some of the vision that spoke to Big Apple liberals.
Yet, that vision is alarming-or – or should be–to anyone who believes in capitalism and true democracy. Mamdani claims he wants to make the city “affordable,” but his proposals would do the opposite. He envisions a much more powerful government that controls the lives of New Yorkers.
Mamdani proclaimed on X that he is “running for Mayor to freeze the rent, make buses fast + free, and deliver free universal childcare.”
Those straightforward-sounding goals carry a lot of baggage.
In an editorial ahead of the primary, the left-leaning New York Times warned against voting for Mamdani: “He is a democratic socialist who too often ignores the unavoidable trade-offs of governance. He favors rent freezes that could restrict housing supply and make it harder for younger New Yorkers and new arrivals to afford housing. He wants the government to operate grocery stores, as if customer service and retail sales were strengths of the public sector. He minimizes the importance of policing.”
Mamdani also said he wants to “shift the tax burden from overtaxed homeowners in the outer boroughs to more expensive homes in richer and whiter neighborhoods.”
Oh, and he doesn’t think “we should have billionaires.”
In addition, Mamdani, who is Muslim, has a well-documented history of standing against Israel and defending the use of antisemitic language, including phrases such as “globalize the intifada.” As violence against Jews in America grows, that’s troubling.
Mamdani’s fellow big-government-loving politicians, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, are likely thrilled with a broader embrace of their socialist vision.
Democrats should think hard, however, about whether that is the road they want to take.
Americans are already fearful about the future of our democracy. The country will celebrate its 249th birthday on Friday, July 4. A new NPR/PBS News/Marist poll shows that 76% of respondents believe democracy is under serious threat.
Most Democrats point to Trump as the reason for their fears. Yet, if progressives prevail in directing the party’s future, it would be their agenda that poses the biggest threat to the country.
Socialism – even the more palatable-sounding “democratic socialism” – would upend the free markets and discourage individual initiative, strengths that have made America the economic force it is today and that are central to our republic's success.
Sen. Slotkin is right: Democrats do need a “sun” to center their party. They should choose it carefully.
