Sen Eric Schmitt renews push for denaturalization bill after pair of attacks
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Sen. Eric Schmitt on Thursday renewed pressure on his bill to expand the process of stripping citizenship of people who commit fraud, commit serious crimes or join terrorist organizations.
Schmitt introduced his own legislation, the Stop Citizenship Abuse and Misrepresentation (Fraud) Act, after a naturalized Lebanese citizen crashed his vehicle into a Michigan synagogue and a citizen originally from Sierra Leone opened fire at Old Dominion University on Thursday in separate incidents in the latest violent attacks by naturalized citizens in the United States.
“After the SAVE America Act, we must pass the SCAM Act so we can denaturalize and deport those who are here to harm Americans,” Schmitt said in
OLD DOMINION UNIVERSITY SHOOTER IDENTIFIED AS FORMER NATIONAL GUARD MEMBER, ISIS SUPPORTER MOHAMED JALLOH
Senator Eric Schmitt renewed pressure on his bill to expand the process of stripping citizenship of people who commit fraud, commit serious crimes or join terrorist organizations. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
“We must denaturalize those who should not be here,” the senator continued.
Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, 41, was shot and killed by security guards before the vehicle caught fire after driving through Temple Israel in West Bloomfield Township near Detroit on Thursday, according to authorities.
The Department of Homeland Security said Ghazali came to the United States 15 years ago on a close relative visa as the spouse of a US citizen and obtained citizenship in 2016.
PAXTON DEMAND MORE FREQUENT INVESTIGATION BY NATIVENIZED SUSPECT AFTER DEADLY TEXAS ATTACK
Police arrive outside the Old Dominion University campus in response to an active shooter on Thursday, March 12, 2026, in Norfolk, Virginia. (AP Photo/John Clark)
Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, 36, served in the Virginia National Guard from 2009 until he received an honorable discharge in 2015. Jalloh, who was previously convicted of trying to provide material support to the Islamic State, reportedly shouted “Allahu Akbar” before opening fire in a classroom at Old Dominion University on Thursday, killing one person and wounding two others. The gunman was also killed.
In another incident earlier this month, a naturalized citizen named Senegal-born Ndiaga Diagne, 53, went on a shooting spree outside a bar in Austin, Texas, killing three people and wounding more than a dozen others.
Schmitt’s Statute of Frauds was first implemented in January in response to allegations of fraud by Somalis in Minnesota.
Mohamed Bailor Jalloh is the identified shooter at Old Dominion University on Thursday, March 12, 2026. (obtained by WTKR)
CLICK TO DOWNLOAD FOX NEWS APPLICATION
“American citizenship is a privilege, and all who hope to become a part of our great nation must demonstrate a sincere allegiance to our Constitution, upright moral character, and devotion to the happiness and good order of the United States,” he said at the time.
“Individuals who commit serious crimes, commit serious crimes, or join terrorist organizations such as drug cartels shortly after taking the citizenship oath fail to meet the basic standards of citizenship,” the lawmaker added. “They must be stripped of their citizenship because they have proven that they have never met the requirements of the great honor of American citizenship. We must preserve and restore the institution of American citizenship.”
