Understanding Denaturalization

I saw on social media where “desis” (South Asians) were bragging about voting for Trump and defeating Harris. I can understand when working class non-college educated Hispanics do that — because of sexism or ignorance — but when Indians with advanced postgraduate degrees (1) do so, it is cringeworthy! 

They are obviously unaware that Trump’s “denaturalization” program — if pursued to extreme lengths — could devastate many lives, including those of tens of thousands of first generation Indian Americans!  

The aim is to target criminals (murderers, rapists, drug dealers, child sex offenders) but can they be trusted not to widen the parameters and go after more people, discarding due process and legal norms, and creating a climate of fear?

Stephen Miller, the Gestapo-like senior advisor in the first Trump Administration, is one of the chief architects of denaturalization and other tyrannical policies that are also part of the Project 2025 agenda. He was recently named Deputy Chief of Staff. 

Denaturalization Targets Naturalized Citizens 

Trump will use the most unfair and constitutionally dubious methods in pursuit of his vision of who belongs in the U.S. — and who does not. 

Undocumented and illegal immigrants are not the only ones in danger. Naturalized citizens: i.e., those who pursued citizenship legally and have every right to stay, could also be at risk. (2)

There is yet another category for those born in the U.S. but whose parents are not citizens. They could also have their citizenship revoked if the parents are targeted. (3) 

According to this logic, you are one hundred percent safe only if your parents were born Stateside!  

Note: in Trump’s family, his wife Melania is a naturalized citizen, as are Melania’s father, J.D. Vance’s in-laws, and many members of the House and Senate who are married to or are themselves naturalized citizens, as are Trump acolytes Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.

Will Skin Color be next?

Trump has spoken of “s-hole countries” and wondered why there aren’t more Nordic or German immigrants; why are they always from poor countries in the geographic south? 

Is it a stretch to speculate that Miller (himself a Jew, historically one of the most discriminated against groups/ faiths) might be working next on categorizing shades of White? (Kidding? Maybe!)

This kind of open racism was prevalent (even routine) a generation ago. Anglo Indians emigrating to Oz from India had to prove — to the Australian Government — how much White ancestry they had! A friend of my parents, a Mrs. Matthews, was told she was “too swarthy” to be accepted into Oz by the consular officer at the Aussie High Commission in Delhi! Her spouse was light-skinned enough to pass muster, not she. Is this the direction in which the U.S. is heading?

Turbocharged Campaign

Miller promises to “turbocharge” denaturalization which  began in the first Trump Administration but did not get much traction. A 2019 budget request by ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) intended to review the files of 700,000 citizens. That review petered out when Trump lost the 2020 election, but could come up again.

They are looking for errors on application forms, concealment of facts (deliberate or otherwise), as well as serious fraud and misrepresentation. Police records of crimes committed (from sex trafficking to jaywalking and shoplifting), and membership in the communist party and terrorist organizations will be checked. Note that, once a case is pursued, the success rate for deportation is as high as 95 percent!  

In the past, denaturalization was rare and mostly used against Nazi war criminals — and perpetrators of the Bosnian and Rwandan genocides — living in the U.S. under assumed identities to escape prosecution. Law abiding citizens were never a target. From 1990 to 2016, an average of 11 persons were deported each year. That number went up to 30 per year during the first Trump Administration — so not a whole lot, but that might change; no one really knows!

An Attack on Fairness, Justice, and Equal Rights

It is cruel and inhumane to strip (or threaten to strip) naturalized Americans of their citizenship; it’s an assault on the promise of America and the country’s tenets of fairness, justice, and equal rights. The very concept of citizenship is belittled, while creating — intentionally, no doubt — an atmosphere of unease and a feeling that no one is safe.

Legal immigrants are afraid that trivial errors made on forms completed a long time ago could come back and haunt them. Likewise, permanent residents (Green Card holders) are scared to apply for citizenship in case their applications are subjected to harsher scrutiny. 

Yes, it will take time to change the laws to pursue denaturalization to its nth degree. But, after winning both the House and Senate, there are no obstacles in Trump’s way to drafting more stringent and punitive legislation. A compliant Supreme Court will fall in line. 

Finding the Money to Defray Costs

At the Department of Homeland Security, which is charged with immigration enforcement, officials are prepping for huge changes. The biggest hurdle will be finding the money and appropriating the funds in addition to hiring contractors and acquiring detention space. 

According to ICE figures, the average cost in 2016 to apprehend, detain, process, and remove a single individual was $10,900. Add another $1,978 to transport that person to their home country. Since then, costs are very much higher. 

My Advice

Am I being alarmist? Perhaps, but forewarned is forearmed! After January 20, stay away from concerts, demonstrations, rallies, or any venue where people gather and could potentially be rounded up — the “meat axe” approach — and moved to a detention site! Be careful of traffic stops (broken tail lights, expired driver’s licenses) and over-zealous police. If you think this sounds like Nazi Germany, you’re right; it’s their model!  

Hire a skilled immigration attorney and avoid overseas travel, for now, or at least until there is more clarification about who is, or not, at risk. Note that naturalized citizens returning to the U.S. from foreign countries could be detained at the airport, subjected to relentless questioning, and be barred from entry! There was harassment of returning U.S. residents after 9/11; it could happen again, so beware!

Or maybe — to escape politics — join the Villa Vie Odyssey cruise ship which has a four-year round the world voyage with stops at more than 400 destinations.Tempting, but no guarantee that Trump will be gone when the cruise ends; still, it’s an option for temporary relocation! (4)

Ludi Joseph 

New York

November 16, 2024

(1) Snoopy cartoon: “I hate when people confuse education with intelligence. You can have a degree and still be an idiot!”

(2) There may be special dispensation for people who were naturalized more than 30 years ago or married to a citizen who was born in the U.S. 

(3) “Birthright Citizenship" — established by the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution — could also be under threat. The 14th Amendment guarantees citizenship to a child born in the U.S. regardless of the parents’ immigration status or nationality. Trump wants to curtail this. 

(4) Trump is limited to a single White House term but will he use his not inconsiderable powers to make himself Prez-for-life to avoid a jail sentence, and what about the rest of “dem villains” — will they exit the stage so easily? 

Why Did Harris Lose? Ignorance. Misogyny. Racism. Hate. Greed. Take your Pick!  

Congratulations to all the voters (mainstream and minority) who chose Trump. Wait for buyer’s remorse; it shouldn’t be long! Writing in The Guardian, Martin Kettle gave voice to worldwide shock: “American voters have done a terrible and unforgivable thing...”

Analysts are blaming the economy but it’s not just the price of bread and milk! (1) Nor is it wokeness and trans kids on sports teams or other outlandish GOP rationale! How easy it is to fool people and play to their insecurities. 

It boiled down to voters preferring the “raw authenticity” of the convicted felon-rapist-conman to a highly qualified woman of color! It’s straightforward misogyny and racism — embraced even by groups most affected. Let’s own it: Americans cannot accept a Black/Asian woman as president or a woman at all.

It’s tough to fathom how right wing propaganda outlets like Fox News and Twitter so easily conned Americans into believing they should vote for a dictator, never mind stomping on their freedoms. But fascists are good at exploiting people's fears, not to mention their civic (and real) illiteracy. 

Yes to Mass Deportation

And to think that Latinos, Blacks, Arabs, Asians (even Indians) voted GOP: that’s a lot of voters saying yes to detention camps and mass deportations (2) of their fellow countrymen! Was that deliberate? Did they not understand what was at stake, or didn’t they care? 

When local police and sheriffs raid factories and round-up non-White people to deport, they won’t ask if you were born here. If you happen to be in a sketchy neighborhood (sorry, bruh, wrong place-wrong time), or live in a red state, or speak with an accent, or aren’t the right skin color, good luck to you, mate/ bhai/ habibi/ mi hermano/ mon frère! Of course, no one thinks it will happen to them; Trump is their savior!  

As far as blaming Democrats for failure to persuade, I call BS! Should Democrats accept responsibility if voters are uninformed about the harsh consequences of electing a raging narcissist? The low info Trumpers responsible for this debacle will get the government they deserve; unfortunately, so will the rest of us.

Different Outcome?

 

What could Harris have done differently? Had Biden decided a year earlier not to run for reelection and allowed a primary process to play out, there may have been a different outcome — perhaps with a White male nominee that Americans found more palatable. We will never know. With an anti-incumbency mood in the country, could anything have made a difference?

This election was also about voter victimhood, mostly imagined: a divided electorate high on rage and resentment and hopped up on GOP disinformation needed someone to blame.  Illegal or undocumented Immigrants were the convenient scapegoat; when are they not? 

Was there a choice between Trump and Harris? If you think there was, stop reading; this blog is not for you!

Arabs, Latinos Punishing Harris

Why did Arab Americans vote for Trump in places like Dearborn, Michigan? They were punishing the Biden Administration for its pro-Israel stance and Harris for not distancing herself — even though Trump (with his 2016 Muslim ban) is less likely to curb Netanyahu.

Latinos breaking for a populist pushing a message of machismo was no surprise: we saw it in 2016 and 2020. Those with undocumented family members (mixed status families) voted for Trump, forgetting he once called them rapists, murderers, and drug dealers! Many said they would not vote for a woman! 

Latinos were willing to risk having a family member deported — but voting for a woman was a bridge too far! Democrats had taken them for granted for too long, they said. According to exit polls, 55 percent of Latino men voted for Trump while 60 percent of Latino women broke for Harris. 

The Ugly American?

Are Americans blinded by greed and self-interest? All we want is to make a buck, pay fewer taxes, never mind our neighbors or the rest of the world! What happened to the post-1945 Pax Americana and the left liberal agenda? Are we the selfish and ugly nation that Trump describes: embracing dictators, vicious to our southern neighbors, and uncaring about Ukraine or Taiwan or Gaza? According to the election results — alas — that answer is an emphatic “yes.”

What is more unsettling is that Trump didn’t just win the antiquated electoral college; he also won the popular vote! Democrats will have much angst and self-recrimination in the weeks ahead about how they lost the working class, and how they let the GOP muddle their message despite Biden’s early legislative triumphs. This is about the national zeitgeist and the national soul — and that should scare us more.

Crystal Ball Nightmare!

After the next four years of extremist rule and an end to constitutional checks and balances, will there still be an America we recognize? Environmental regulations could be down to zero with wildlife decimated and a proliferation of monster storms; health care could be drastically reduced and social safety nets shrunk. Do we say goodbye to Social Security and the Affordable Care Act? How about vaccines?  Will trade unions be a thing of the past? Will Trump go after his “political enemies?” (3) Will Ukraine be compelled to cede territory to Putin and Taiwan be swallowed by China? Elon Musk (or some other unelected tech bro billionaire) could be running the country and gutting the federal government while Trump plays golf! Didn’t Rome burn while Nero fiddled - but that’s what the American people voted for!

Looking Ahead

How do you court an electorate that votes against its own best interests and doesn’t respond to reason? How best to counter GOP assaults on press freedom, voter rolls, climate regulations, abortion rights, the civil service, and the rest of the destructive Project 2025 agenda? (4) In the first Trump Administration we had Muslim bans and children being snatched from parents. Let’s see what perils await us now.

Instead of wallowing, take steps to limit the GOP to one White House term and win back the Senate by refocusing on core issues (job opportunity, minimum wage, support for working families). Democratic governors in 23 states (5) can curb Trump’s most egregious policies and be an effective bulwark against unjust federal power. 

The legit media must take a cold hard inward look: did they let Trump skate or did they demonstrate his unfitness for office? In the end it comes down to an informed electorate. This one was clearly not!  But let’s not get bogged down: look to the 2026 midterms, the upcoming women’s march, climate demonstrations, and community organization. Life goes on! 

A word about the malaise and despondency felt by millennials and first time Gen. Z voters. It is your world to navigate; find ways to survive; have faith, have hope, be vigilant!

Ludi Joseph

New York

November 10, 2024

(1) According to most experts, the U.S. economy is booming, unemployment is low, and wages outpace inflation — but prices are too high for those living paycheck to paycheck. However, governments do not set prices; businesses and corporations do. Congressmen intent on pleasing corporate donors created the issue — not Biden, Harris, or liberals. The best way forward is to provide tax breaks to businesses and corporations based on job creation and sustainability.  

(2) Trump has invoked the deportations of the 1950s conducted by the Eisenhower Administration’s “Operation Wetback” program and pledged to use the 1789 Alien Enemies Act to detain and deport non-citizens. He has threatened to withhold federal grants to police that don’t cooperate and use the National Guard to carry out deportations. Naturalized citizens could also be targeted under close advisor Stephen Miller’s “denaturalization campaign.”

(3) Trump’s list of “political enemies” is endless. Here are some names targeted for “retribution” by him: Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, Former Rep. Liz Cheney, Special Counsel Jack Smith, NY Attorney General Leticia James, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, former Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, former FBI Director James Comey, Rep. Adam Schiff, Hunter Biden, Facebook Founder Mark Zuckerberg, former Trump attorney Michael Cohen, members of the January 6 Select Committee, reporters, editors, publishers, and TV news anchors. 

(4) Project 2025 is a set of ultra conservative policies from the Heritage Foundation which recommend putting the civil service under direct White House control, eliminating whistleblower and job protections, and replacing career personnel with political appointees. Other controversial proposals include implementing the "largest deportation program in American history” of undocumented immigrants including a denaturalization campaign against legal immigrants, continuing the unchecked exploitation of fossil fuels (“drill, baby, drill”), eliminating the Department of Education, and ending DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion) programs in schools and government departments as part of a larger crackdown on woke ideology.

(5) https://democraticgovernors.org/governors

Harris Concedes Election to Trump

 My Gut Feeling: Kamala Will Win!

I really think Kamala Harris will win the 2024 election, never mind what the polls say! Forget the darn polls! We saw how wildly inaccurate they were in 2016 and 2020. 

The Magic Word is Turnout!

It’s all about turnout: come Election Day, how many people will show up to vote? Will they take the trouble to get off the sofa, get dressed, go out, and vote? There are many who just couldn’t be bothered, including left wing people I know.

This country doesn’t make it easy to do one’s civic duty. Voting is not mandatory. Voting day is not a holiday nor are employers required to give workers time off to vote — at least not in every state, not yet! How many working people — who take care of  parents, children, and grandchildren — want to spend a day’s paid leave casting a ballot? It’s a tough call! 

Early voting is key. (I already did, by mail ballot). So far, early voter turnout has been good in most states. In general, those who vote early are Democrats while Republicans prefer to wait until Election Day. What matters is getting voters mobilized and in polling booths, especially in the swing states. (1)

According to a Stanford University study, democracies perform better when more people vote. About 240 million people were eligible to vote in the 2020 presidential election but only 66.1 percent of them submitted ballots. Roughly 81 million eligible voters did not cast a ballot. That’s a lot of people for the two campaigns to reach before Election Day!  

Ballin’ and Stallin’ (2)

I heard an analyst on MSNBC use sports terms to describe Harris and Trump: “she’s ballin’ and he’s stallin’” — he meant Harris was engaging with voters every chance she got while Trump was cancelling major media interviews. 

Harris went on a Black talk show, “Charlamagne tha God” to shore up the Black youth vote because, apparently, young Black men prefer not to see women in leadership roles! She defended her “scripted” cautious style as a badge of honor and agreed that Trump was all about fascism.

Harris also went on Fox News to win over the sliver of Republican (mostly women) voters who watch Fox but dislike Trump. Despite the antagonistic interview, Harris can tout the fact that she went into a hostile environment and took hard questions, while Trump is stallin’ — that is, he avoids debates and tough interviews; he ducks, he weaves, he stalls!  

Conspiracy Theories!

No big events are likely to shake up the race in these last few days before November 5. Of course, conspiracy theories abound and will no doubt get more extreme!  

After the Harris-Trump debate (September 10), right-wing commenters — unable to accept Trump’s disastrous performance vis-à-vis Harris’ forceful one — chose to attack her pearl earrings! Naomi Wolf (former liberal feminist, now a rightwing conspiracy theorist) said the earrings were transmitting audio in real time; that is, back room operatives were feeding Harris answers through the earrings! Other critics speculated they were expensive Tiffany pearls — insinuating that wearing fine jewelry made Harris

ineligible for high office!  

The Dems have launched a TV ad calling Trump unhinged, unstable and unchecked; someone who will “ignore all checks that rein in a president’s power.”  They are linking his erratic behavior and bizarre comments with questions about his mental capacity and refusal to release recent medical records. By calling January 6 “a day of love” at a recent Univision town hall, Trump was “gaslighting” the American people, Harris said.

In the final days before the election, a last-ditch effort is underway to peel off Republican support from Trump. Harris rallied with prominent GOP supporters in battleground Pennsylvania, telling them “there is a place for you in this campaign.”

Strong Feeling!

I have faith that the majority in America is about democracy and decency, never mind all the MAGA trash talk of rounding up and deporting immigrants or refusing to accept another person of color in the Oval! 

There’s no October Surprise (3) coming our way! Yes, a full-fledged war could break out between Israel and Iran or some other country in the Middie East! But, whatever happens, it’s unlikely to change the outcome of the election. Kamala will win but what happens afterwards? The other side has promised chaos. 

Despite Trump’s threats of violence or of unleashing his neo Nazi goons, this sometimes tottering off-kilter Republic will right itself, I strongly feel! Meanwhile, if you live in a battleground state (or basically anywhere) take a leaf from a survivalist guide and start stocking up on canned goods, packaged food, fuel, flashlights, shortwave radio, and bottled water; don’t forget cash! I’m only half kidding!

Ludi Joseph

Washington, D.C.

October 20, 2020

(1) A swing state (also known as a battleground or purple state) could be won by either side — by a “swing” in votes. In 2024, the swing states are Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. 

(2) Ballin’ or Balling is slang for playing basketball in ghetto neighborhoods. Stallin’ or Stalling comes from wrestling. 

(3) An October Surprise is an event that takes place in October that might influence the outcome of a presidential election. One of the best known examples is from 1980 when the Ronald Reagan campaign tried to ensure that President Jimmy Carter would not benefit from the pre-election release of U.S. hostages held by Iran. 

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