Authoritarianism expert Ruth Ben-Ghiat condemns Donald Trump's chilling rhetoric on citizenship revocation and deportation, calling his threats to expel even US-born citizens a dangerous escalation of authoritarian tactics. Trump's comments echo previous statements targeting naturalized and native-born citizens, raising serious concerns about due process and the erosion of democratic norms
Trump's Threat: Deporting US-Born Citizens? The former president's recent comments sparked outrage after he threatened to strip US citizenship and deport citizens, including those born in the US, who commit certain crimes. This alarming rhetoric, echoing previous statements about targeting "homegrown" citizens, raises serious concerns about authoritarianism and due process
“They’re not new to our country. They’re old to our country. Many of them were born in our country. I think we ought to get them the hell out of here, too, if you want to know the truth,” he said during a visit to a new migrant detention facility. “So maybe that will be the next job that we’ll work on together.”
The comments echo what Trump said in April when speaking of deportations to El Salvador.
“The homegrowns are next,” Trump said during a meeting with Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele.
Ben-Ghiat, the author of “Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present,” responded on X about Trump’s comments:
“The Homegrowns Will Be Next,” is one of the more chilling authoritarian phrases I have heard. This is also why they want to increase ICE’s budget so much. https://t.co/Uef8fhDiBZ
Trump’s latest comments came after NPR reported that the Justice Department was “aggressively prioritizing” efforts to revoke the status of naturalized citizens who commit certain crimes.
On Tuesday, he said that could include citizens born in the United States who “whack people over the head with a baseball bat from behind when they’re not looking and kill them” or “knife you when you’re walking down the street.”
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However, Trump also indicated that category could be far broader, at least with naturalized U.S. citizens such as former ally Elon Musk. After his latest falling out with Musk, Trump said he said he would “take a look” at deporting the tech billionaire.
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