US Senator Eric Schmitt unveils SCAM Act with tougher citizenship revocation rules

US Senator Eric Schmitt has introduced legislation aimed at expanding and clarifying the circumstances under which American citizenship can be revoked for individuals found to have committed serious crimes

or engaged in terrorist activity after naturalisation.

The Republican senator from Missouri unveiled the Stop Citizenship Abuse and Misrepresentation (SCAM) Act against the backdrop of reported large-scale welfare fraud involving Somali crime rings in Minnesota, cases that have included convictions of naturalised US citizens.

The bill seeks to restore what Schmitt described as the “integrity” of the naturalisation process by allowing authorities to initiate denaturalisation proceedings against individuals who, through fraud, serious felonies or links to terrorist organisations, are deemed never to have met the legal requirements for citizenship.

More and more countries are being added to the list for which passport holders must put down as much as $15,000 to apply for a visa to enter the US, according to the US Department of State. The Trump administration added 25 more countries on January 6, 2026, after quietly adding seven less than a week earlier, bringing the total to 38 for now. These visa bonds, which were announced last year and are refunded upon denial of a visa application or upon successful compliance with the terms of the visa, are ostensibly intended to address high visa overstay rates from certain countries. Given the high amounts involved, particularly relative to some of the countries’ average incomes, they are also likely to have a deterrent effect.

“American citizenship is a privilege,” Schmitt said, arguing that those who commit felony fraud, serious crimes or join terrorist organisations such as drug cartels shortly after taking the citizenship oath “fail to uphold the basic standards of citizenship”. He added that such individuals must be denaturalised because they have shown they were never eligible for “the great honour of American citizenship” in the first place, calling for decisive action rather than debate.

The bill would expand the grounds for denaturalisation to include involvement in substantial fraud against federal, state or local welfare programmes, affiliation with designated foreign terrorist organisations, and participation in aggravated felonies or espionage.

The proposal has drawn strong support from immigration hardliners. Stephen Miller, White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and Homeland Security Advisor, described the alleged Somali fraud case as “one of the greatest financial scandals in American history” and said that immigrants who commit fraud against the US should be “immediately denaturalised and deported”.

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Policy groups have also endorsed the move. Cooper Smith of the America First Policy Institute said the bill would help ensure that “fraud, deception or violence have no place in the naturalisation process”, while Joe Chatham of the Federation for American Immigration Reform said it would protect national security and preserve the principles of US citizenship.

Mike Howell, President of the Oversight Project, said the legislation addressed long-standing failures in screening immigrants for assimilation and moral character, adding that Senator Schmitt was the “right legislative advocate” to push reforms that prioritise American interests.

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