Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., said Tuesday that she is calling for changes to national immigration law that would make committing fraud a deportable offense and grounds for stripping citizenship from naturalized Americans.
Speaking on Newsmax’s Wake Up America, Blackburn said the proposal would amend the Nationality and Immigration Act to explicitly classify fraud against the U.S. government and taxpayers as a trigger for deportation or denaturalization.
“What we would do is amend the Nationality and Immigration Act and make certain that all fraud, not only fraud above $10,000, but all fraud that is committed against the U.S. taxpayer and our government would be deemed as a deportable or a denaturalization offense,” Blackburn said.
According to the senator, the proposal is intended to consolidate what she described as fragmented provisions within existing law.
“It is not explicit that all fraud is deemed this way,” she said, referring to current statutory language.
Blackburn said the measure would also address detention and venue rules for immigration-related fraud cases.
“It would allow these individuals, once they’re apprehended, to be held until their hearing,” she said, adding that it would also allow “any court, not just an immigration court, but any court, to hear these cases.”
The senator tied her push for reform to recent developments in Minnesota, where federal authorities have ramped up enforcement efforts amid allegations of large-scale fraud.
“The American people have looked at what has happened in Minnesota with billions of dollars of fraud,” Blackburn said, adding that whistleblowers in other states have raised concerns about fraud in daycare centers, elder care facilities, healthcare programs, and additional government-funded services.
When asked how the denaturalization process would work, Blackburn said existing law already provides a mechanism.
“There is a process through the NIA that you can be denaturalized, and what this does is to make certain that fraud is explicit in one of those portions,” she said.
The interview also addressed a lawsuit filed by Minnesota officials challenging a surge of federal immigration enforcement officers sent to the state.
“Trump Derangement Syndrome is alive and well in Minnesota,” Blackburn said. “We are certainly seeing that our ICE agents are there doing their job.”
She added that Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers are targeting violent offenders.
“You can go to the ICE website,” Blackburn said. “You can look at some of the rap sheets on these individuals, child sexual assault, molestation, aggravated assault, murder, rape, and other violent crimes.”
On Capitol Hill, Blackburn also weighed in on the status of federal spending negotiations, saying she does not expect a government shutdown.
“We will not have another shutdown,” she said. “The House has passed this three-bill omnibus. The Senate will move forward with the minibus [and] will pass it before the end of the week.”
She said the House is expected to advance additional appropriations legislation next week and framed the effort as a departure from prior spending priorities.
“What this does, by passing these appropriations bills, is get us off of a Biden budget and onto a Trump budget,” Blackburn said.
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Fraud if a felony is already a deportable offense for those that are not Citizens. But deportation should only come after they have spent time in jail or paid restitution. For naturalized citizens, fraud and other crimes should be made to be a deportable and stripping of naturalization. And ALL illegals should be targeted. They are in the very commission of a crime by just being here. Add to that they have all been asked to leave with a chance to be able to apply later on. Every one that is deported should be retinal scanned and DNA tested and databased to ensure they are never considered again for Citizenship.
Dear Senator Blackburn. Hope your bill goes through.