House Republicans this week renewed calls to denaturalize New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, marking the seventh distinct effort by GOP lawmakers to revoke the citizenship of the Uganda-born assemblyman who has lived in America since age seven.
Representative Andy Ogles of Tennessee submitted a formal letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi demanding denaturalization proceedings against Mamdani, citing as evidence several rap lyrics the candidate wrote as a college student in 2015. The lyrics, which Ogles described as "open solidarity with terrorism," included the phrase "Free the Holy Land Five," a reference to five men convicted of conspiracy charges related to fundraising for Palestinian causes.
"We have clearly suffered from massive naturalization fraud," posted Representative Randy Fine of Florida on social media, announcing plans to "review every naturalization of the past 30 years" starting with Mamdani. Fine's proposal would examine approximately 24 million citizenship applications, though staffers confirmed the congressman has not yet determined where to store the paperwork.
The denaturalization push has united an impressive coalition of Republican voices. The New York Young Republican Club invoked the 1954 Communist Control Act—a law never successfully used to revoke anyone's citizenship and widely considered unconstitutional—while Representative Brandon Gill previously told Mamdani to "go back to the Third World" after observing him eat with his hands.
When asked whether President Trump supports the deportation efforts, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters she hadn't heard Trump call for that, adding that the claims about Mamdani "surely" should be investigated if true. The administration has already announced plans to "maximally pursue denaturalization proceedings," though officials stress this expansion of government power is necessary to protect freedom.
Mamdani, who became a U.S. citizen in 2018 and won the Democratic mayoral primary in June, has received car bomb threats and been labeled by Ogles as "little muhammad," an "antisemitic, socialist, communist" who "needs to be DEPORTED."
