The president of the United States, Donald Trump, announced this Wednesday that his administration will revoke the citizenship of any naturalized immigrant, including those from Somalia, who is convicted of defrauding U.S. citizens.
"We will also revoke the citizenship of any naturalized immigrant from Somalia, or anywhere else, who is convicted of defrauding our citizens. We will remove them from here first, and if you come to the United States to steal from Americans, we will put you in jail and send you back to where you came from," the president declared during a speech at the Economic Club of Detroit.
The announcement reinforces the "zero tolerance" immigration policy promoted by the White House, which aims to punish immigration fraud and crimes committed by naturalized citizens more harshly.
In Trump's view, "citizenship is a privilege, not a right," and those who violate the laws "will lose that privilege."
The president's speech coincides with the tightening of the denaturalization processes implemented since December, when the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) ordered a massive review of cases and the temporary suspension of asylum, residency, and naturalization applications for citizens from 19 countries deemed high-risk, including Cuba, Venezuela, Somalia, and Haiti.
The new measures, justified as part of a "war on fraud," have raised concerns among human rights organizations, which fear a political use of the revocation process. The Trump administration argues that its goal is to protect national security and ensure that "only the best" obtain U.S. citizenship.
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