A New York congressman this week proposed a bill to allow the federal government to revoke the citizenship of naturalized U.S. citizens within ten years if they are involved in gang activity.

The bill, “Protecting our Communities from Gang Violence Act of 2018,” would strip citizenship from people affiliated with a criminal gang either ten years before or within ten years of becoming a U.S. citizen, the Washington Examiner reported. The proposal would bar immigrants who do not “exhibit good moral character” because of gang membership, association, affiliation, or provision of material support from becoming citizens. According to the proposal, “good moral character” is based on “relevant information or evidence, including classified, law enforcement sensitive, or national security information and shall be binding upon any court regardless of the applicable standard of review.’’

“From the vicious machete attack of four young men in Central Islip, to the childhood best friends brutally murdered by MS-13 in Brentwood, our community has witnessed the indiscriminate brutality of gang violence firsthand,” Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) wrote in a press release. “Every level of government has a role to play in combating the rise of MS-13 and other gangs, and we must crack down on the aspects of our nation’s broken immigration system and other policies that have allowed MS-13 and other gangs to take hold in our communities and stay there.”

As Riverhead Local reported, there are four ways to revoke citizenship: “if the person has procured naturalization illegally; or willfully concealed a material fact on his naturalization application or in the subsequent interview; or if the person becomes a member of, or affiliated with, the Communist party, other totalitarian party, or terrorist organization within five years of his or her naturalization; or if a person became a U.S. citizen through naturalization on the basis of honorable service in the U.S. armed forces and subsequently separates from the armed forces under other than honorable conditions before serving honorably for at least five years.”


It’s unclear that Zeldin’s bill would pass with any Democratic support.

Zeldin’s bill comes as the Trump administration has imposed harsher restrictions on immigration from Latin American countries. The MS-13 gang — which originated in Los Angeles, California and has a large membership in El Salvador — does pose some threat in America, but experts say the administration is targeting the wrong people. As ThinkProgress reporter Yvette Cabrera previously pointed out, advocacy groups have noticed an increase in the number of detained immigrants on alleged gang involvement as well as Central American children seeking asylum being labeled as gang members. But advocates also worry that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) uses unknown criteria to define “gang affiliation,” “gang membership,” or “gang associate” during arrests. Federal agents then use gang enforcement as a “pretext to arrest immigrants,” an allegation that an ICE agent appeared to substantiate to CBS News in mid-November, thereby making it harder for immigrants to prove their innocence.