Emmer says recent terror attacks expose flaws in US law, pushes SCAM Act
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House Majority Whip Tom Emmer said a recent series of terrorist attacks by naturalized citizens had exposed serious flaws in U.S. immigration law, arguing that it was “imperative now more than ever” to pass the Stop Citizenship Abuse and Misrepresentation (SCAM) Act, which would allow the government to remove “America-hating terrorists” from the country.
The SCAM Act, first introduced by Emmer in January, would expand the U.S. government’s authority to revoke the citizenship of naturalized citizens convicted of terrorism, fraud or espionage. The Senate version of the bill was introduced by Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo.
“This needs to be addressed,” Emmer, a Republican from Minnesota, told Fox News Digital.
“If you’re going to take advantage of Americans’ generosity, or engage with known terrorist organizations, or commit or even attempt to commit serious crimes or terrorist attacks, it doesn’t matter; no more playing games,” Emmer said. “You should be stripped of your citizenship and sent back to where you came from.”
HOUSE HOMELAND SECURITY REPUBLIC CALLS US MUSLIM LEADERS TO ‘ISOLATE EXTREMISTS’ AFTER A SERIES OF ATTACKS
House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, a Republican from Minnesota, during a television interview at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, September 30, 2025 in Washington, DC, USA. Emmer introduced a bill that would strip convicted fraudsters and terrorists of U.S. citizenship. (Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
He complained that “the standards for stripping someone of their citizenship are too high” under current law, but said “we have a solution to fix this.”
On the House side, the bill, currently before the House Judiciary Committee, would allow prosecutors to use crimes committed after naturalization as evidence that a person falsely claimed good moral character during the citizenship process, effectively claiming that their citizenship was invalid from the start.
The SCAM Act currently has nearly 50 House co-sponsors, according to Emmer. Once the vote is scheduled, he believes the issue will remain unsolved and may even receive bipartisan support from Democrats who recognize the seriousness of the issue.
“It’s really simple,” he said. “The message is that terrorists, naturalized or not, do not belong on U.S. soil.”
SERIES OF ATTACKS ON NATIVE CITIZENS REVEALE NATIONAL SECURITY PROBLEMS
From top left to right: Ndiaga Diagne, Ayman Mohamad, Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, Emir Balat and Ibrahim Kayumi. Background: Temple Israel synagogue in Michigan on Thursday, March 12, 2026. (Austin Police Department; Retrieved by NYPost; Retrieved by WTVR; Madison Swart/Reuters; WJBK)
In early March, Senegal-born citizen Ndiaga Diagne was killed by police after he allegedly killed three people and injured more than a dozen others in a shooting rampage in Austin, police said.
Shortly thereafter, Emir Balat and Ibrahim Kayumi, children of naturalized citizens of Turkey and Afghanistan, allegedly pledged support for ISIS and tried to bomb an anti-Islamic demonstration outside the mayor’s mansion in New York City, according to police. They are charged with numerous explosives-related offences, including attempting to provide material support to ISIS, attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction, and carrying, receiving and possessing destructive devices.
Then, on March 12, U.S. citizen Ayman Muhammad Ghazali, who is originally from Lebanon, allegedly tried to crash his vehicle into a Michigan synagogue filled with children and teachers, according to authorities.
That same day, at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, a native of Sierra Leone, allegedly opened fire on a class of Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) cadets, killing Lt. Col. Brandon Shah, according to police. He too was killed at the scene.
“It’s clear that something is broken in our immigration system,” Emmer said, adding that terrorists “continue to enter our country and are allowed to remain here at the expense of American and American lives.”
“We cannot go on like this,” he continued, emphasizing: “It is imperative now more than ever that we get this done.”
FORMER JIHADIST WARNED ABOUT PREDATORY CONSTRUCTION AFTER ISIS-INSPIRED BOMB PLAN IN NEW YORK CITY
Rep. Tom Emmer, R-MN., speaks during the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on Tuesday, July 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Despite this, Emmer faced some opposition in Minnesota for his tough stance.
local output MPR News He reported that a community activist leader in his district named Abdikadir Bashir, executive director of the nonprofit Center for African Migrants and Refugees, accused Emmer of “trying to erase us politically.”
“The moment citizenship becomes dependent on the politician’s approval of us, none of us are safe,” Bashir said, according to the press. “Today it could be Somali Americans. Tomorrow it could be another ethnic group.”
Although he declined to speculate on a timeline for when the bill might be passed, he said “I will have a request as soon as possible.”
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“We have an immigration system that does not require these people to declare their allegiance to the United States and their desire to become Americans,” he said.
“We want everyone who comes here from anywhere to pursue their American dream and become an American…we want you,” he concluded. “If you come here and you’re not thinking of being an American, if you’re thinking of changing America or destroying America, you should go away.”
