Donald Trump rose to power promising mass deportations, using undocumented immigrants as a scapegoat for America’s economic struggles and crime fears. But since returning to office, the President has signalled a willingness to extend those threats beyond undocumented immigrants — even to U.S. citizens.
Earlier this week, when asked whether he would deport former advisor and tech billionaire Elon Musk following Musk’s criticisms of the administration’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” Trump said, “We’ll have to take a look.” Musk, who was born in South Africa, became a U.S. citizen in 2002.
Later that day, Trump questioned the citizenship status of New York City’s Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, stating, “A lot of people are saying he’s here illegally. We’re going to look at everything.” Mamdani, born in Uganda, became a U.S. citizen in 2018.
Trump also threatened to have Mamdani arrested if he interfered with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations. In response, Mamdani released a statement saying, “The President of the United States just threatened to have me arrested, stripped of my citizenship, put in a detention camp, and deported. Not because I have broken any law, but because I will refuse to let ICE terrorize our city.”
As Trump leans further into hardline immigration and citizenship rhetoric, the boundaries between lawful dissent and targeted retribution appear increasingly blurred, raising concerns about constitutional rights under his second term.
