A string of terrorist attacks carried out by naturalized U.S. citizens is prompting a handful of Republicans to push for a sweeping crackdown not just on illegal immigration but on legal immigration and citizenship policies as well.
Conservatives have honed in on three recent terrorist attacks, two of which occurred on Thursday, arguing there should be stricter enforcement of deportation laws and an end to several immigration programs, even if it means those being deported are U.S. citizens.
The most recent attack occurred in Virginia at Old Dominion University, when 36-year-old Mohamed Bailor Jalloh opened fire, killing one and injuring two others. Jalloh was a naturalized citizen from Sierra Leone who quit the Virginia National Guard after being radicalized by a since-deceased Al-Qaeda leader. He was previously convicted in 2017 of providing material support to the Islamic State group and was sentenced to 11 years in prison, but was not deported.
“This monster should’ve been stripped of his citizenship and shipped back to Sierra Leone,” House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) said in a post on social media. “Instead, he was let back onto our streets only to commit more terror. We can’t go on like this.
“Anyone who comes to this country and goes on to support or join a terrorist organization should be DENATURALIZED and DEPORTED,” Emmer said.
In Michigan, 41-year-old Lebanese-born U.S. citizen Ayman Mohamad Ghazali rammed a truck into a synagogue in what the FBI says is a “targeted act of violence against the Jewish community.” No one was killed in the attack besides Ghazali. He entered the country on an IR1 visa, an immigrant visa for a spouse of a U.S. citizen, and applied for citizenship in 2015, which was granted in 2016.
On March 1, 53-year-old Ndiaga Diagne, a naturalized citizen born in Senegal, opened fire in Austin, Texas, killing three people and injuring 13 others before being fatally shot by police. He was wearing a shirt that said “property of Allah” at the time of the shooting, with police investigating the incident as a possible act of domestic terrorism.
Diagne entered on a B-2 tourist visa, a non-immigrant visa for temporary travel to the United States. He married a U.S. citizen, became a lawful permanent resident in 2006, and naturalized in 2013.
Rep. Riley Moore (R-WV) said he plans to introduce legislation to denaturalize and deport naturalized citizens who commit an act of terrorism or join a terrorist organization.
“This horrific pattern of naturalized citizens committing acts of terrorism against the American people must end,” Moore said.
Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN) is filing a bill titled the ASSIMILATION Act, which would overturn the Hart-Cellar Act that abolished a long-standing policy of limiting immigration based on national origin. His bill would shift immigration to “make America look America again” and end the “H-1B visa scam” and chain migration.
And Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) is going further by calling for passage of legislation that would freeze all immigration to the U.S., except for temporary tourist visas, until Congress ends birthright citizenship and a slew of other policies, such as “chain-migration” and “Diversity Visa Program.”
“We must pause immigration now,” Roy said in a podcast interview with conservative personality Benny Johnson. “We must reassert American values on those who come here. We must stop moving people into the line to become citizens without knowing that they’re coming here to assimilate.”
The calls from conservatives come as Republicans grapple with how aggressively to campaign on immigration heading into the competitive 2026 midterm elections. Republicans are facing an uphill battle to keep the House and could lose the Senate.
Mass deportations were essential to the Republicans’ 2024 messaging, with immigration being one of the most influential issues that caused the Senate and White House to flip to the GOP last cycle. But polling shows the electorate may have shifted.
Nearly half of the public believes President Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaigns are getting too aggressive, including 1 in 5 voters who backed the president in 2024, per a January poll from Politico. A recent NBC poll also found the administration holding a 53% approval rating for border security but a 54% disapproval rating for handling immigration.
“Anti-immigrant rhetoric does not help the Republicans,” longtime GOP strategist John Feehery told the Washington Examiner. “Anti-illegal immigrant [rhetoric] does. But if you’re gonna throw all the immigrants out in one fell swoop, it’s — we’re a nation of immigrants and it does not help us politically or economically.”
Pausing immigration or removing illegal immigrants could backfire not just politically, but also make the affordability problem worse for consumers. Several Republicans have noted that immigrant labor plays a significant role in the U.S. economy.
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Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) said many employers in his district say they are “limited because of lack of workers.”
“Also, an aging and declining population is bad for [the] country,” said Bacon, who is retiring this year. “We need expanded legal immigration.”