Senator Eric Schmitt sharply rebuked Senator Mazie Hirono during a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee hearing on denaturalization and the bipartisan SCAM Act, clashing over whether naturalized citizens can be stripped of citizenship for fraud or serious crimes and framing the debate around protecting taxpayers versus defending convicted criminals.
The hearing focused on “Protecting American Citizenship III: Denaturalization and its Constitutional Limits” and examined the Safeguarding Consumers from Advertising Misconduct Act, known as the SCAM Act. That bill aims to force online platforms to harden themselves against fraudulent ads and hold companies accountable when Americans are targeted by scam artists. The dispute turned less on technical legal limits and more on political theater as senators sparred over motives and consequences.
Mazie Hirono framed the issue as an attack on naturalized citizens, warning that denaturalization powers could be used to terrorize immigrant communities. She insisted naturalized Americans would be treated as second-class citizens and sounded alarms about late-discovered conduct being used to revisit past naturalization. Her remarks were emotional and painted the proposals as partisan and punitive, not just legal remedies.
“It’s just the latest step in this regime wreaking havoc around our already broken immigration system. Trying to break it beyond repair, from where I sit. He’s now telling 24 million… 24 million naturalized Americans that their citizenship can be questioned. And I think when I say this hearing is bizarre, I mean, you’re going to use conduct that occurs 10 years after the naturalization was conducted or the application for naturalization was submitted, and conduct 10 years later to somehow go back to the point of the application to determine whether there was fraud was committed, it’s very bizarre. So, 24 million already naturalized citizens… I happen to be the only naturalized citizen sitting on this committee, and I am horrified by the implication that naturalized citizens basically get second-class citizenship. Not only, and should they commit crimes … yes, as citizens, yes, they should be prosecuted like any other U.S. citizen. But what, uhhh… laws… or bills like the SCAM Act does is it subjects the naturalized citizen to even more… ummm… uh… harm, or, or more than what would be visited upon by a U.S. citizen. Which a naturalized citizen, by definition, is.
“So, let’s be clear. This has never been about law and order for the Republicans, this is all about getting immigrants. It’s about terrorizing immigrant communities. Whether it be ICE officers who are acting outside of what would be considered reasonable behavior, and using our immigration system as a pretext, basically, to keep certain people out of our country.
“As a naturalized citizen, I can’t think of a more undemocratic, un-American thing to do to someone who chooses to become a U.S. citizen, to hold this over their heads and to treat us as second class citizens.”
Her speech drew a direct, unapologetic rebuttal from Senator Eric Schmitt, who pushed back hard in defense of taxpayers and public safety. Schmitt framed denaturalization tools as necessary when immigrants commit serious crimes like terrorism, violent assault, or large-scale fraud. He made clear he views denaturalization as a consequence for those who abuse the system, not a political tool against law-abiding people.
This would have been one response to Hirono’s banal pablum:
Hirono tried to run over her five minutes and lobbed questions at witnesses, but Schmitt cut through the fog and reclaimed the floor to deliver a plainspoken rebuttal. He called out what he saw as misplaced sympathy for convicted perpetrators and emphasized the victims—the Americans who are scammed and defrauded. His tone was unyielding, and he repeatedly refused to be interrupted as he dismantled her claims.
“Speaking of astounding. Your comments are astounding, Senator. You mentioned a few words. ‘Horrific.’ I think to the American taxpayer that’s been ripped off from people who came to this country to rip them off, that’s Horrific.
“You talk about, ‘Bizarre’ —”
As Hirono attempted to jump in, Schmitt shut down the interruptions and pressed his point. He described defending violent criminals from deportation as the true act of being bizarre and exposed what he saw as a misplaced defense of those who prey on Americans. Schmitt repeatedly framed the SCAM Act as common-sense accountability, not xenophobic overreach.
“No, no, NO. It’s my time now. It’s my time. You went over time, it’s my time.
“‘Bizarre’ is the idea that you would be here in this committee defending violent murderers from being deported. That you would be defending violent rapists from being deported. That you would defend people who took advantage of the good people of this country of their taxpayer dollars, that is bizarre. A terrorist who kills American citizens. You know what’s bizarre? Is your defense of that.
“So, forgive me if your 24 million Americans — or naturalized citizens — should be afraid. That’s ridiculous.”
Schmitt did not relent and repeated that the bill targets criminal conduct, not citizenship itself, and that convictions—not accusations—should trigger removal. He invoked prosecutorial outcomes and the basic idea that anyone who breaks the law should face consequences. His closing remarks were blunt and unapologetic: if you criminally abuse the system, you face conviction and removal.
“If you commit a terrorist act. If you commit wholesale welfare fraud, within 10 years, you’re damn right we’re deporting you.
“If you’re convicted, it’s not being accused of anything. If you are convicted in a court of law of these crimes, absolutely we should not only convict you, but we should deport you.
“Gone.
“And if you think that’s some sort of like, negative assertion towards me, I’ll take it. I love it. That’s what we should be doing more of in this country.
“Because people are coming here and they’re ripping off taxpayers. And I, for one, don’t want to see it anymore. And if you want to have that debate in public we can do it, but that’s what this hearing is about: to examine the SCAM Act. So, I’d just like to expose a few of your lies in your most recent dissertation on the dais here.”
The hearing made clear the split: one side emphasizes protecting immigrant rights and caution about retroactive denaturalization, while the other stresses protecting taxpayers and punishing fraudsters regardless of how they gained citizenship. The clash was heated and unequivocal, with Schmitt showing he will press enforcement-minded arguments and call out what he sees as misplaced defenses of criminal conduct. The full speech from Sen. Eric Schmitt is here.
WATCH:
https://x.com/EricLDaugh/status/2062649606975185300
Add comment