New Bill Mandates Automatic Citizenship Revocation and Priority Deportation for Terrorism Convictions

The 'Deport the Terrorists Act of 2026' creates a fast-track system to strip citizenship from naturalized Americans and remove non-citizens from the country if they are convicted of specific federal terrorism crimes. Under this bill, the same judge who handles a criminal trial for offenses like bombing public places or financing terrorism would be required to automatically void the defendant’s citizenship as part of the sentencing. Once that citizenship is gone, the Department of Homeland Security is directed to move those individuals to the front of the line for deportation.

The End of the Paper Trail

Currently, stripping someone of their citizenship—a process called denaturalization—is usually a separate, complex civil lawsuit that can take years. This bill changes the game by making it automatic. If a naturalized citizen is convicted under Section 2 of the act for crimes like using weapons of mass destruction (18 U.S.C. 2332a) or receiving military training from a foreign terrorist organization (18 U.S.C. 2339D), the criminal court must 'revoke, set aside, and declare void' their citizenship immediately. This means a single trial handles both the prison sentence and the loss of legal status, significantly cutting through the usual bureaucratic red tape.

Who Is in the Crosshairs?

The bill specifically targets two groups: naturalized citizens and non-citizens (like green card holders or visa holders). For example, if a naturalized citizen who has lived in the U.S. for twenty years is convicted of 'providing material support' to a designated group under Section 2339B, they wouldn't just face a cell—they would lose their U.S. passport and legal identity as an American. For non-citizens, Section 3 amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to make any terrorism-related conviction a guaranteed ground for being kicked out of the country, regardless of how long they’ve been here or their family ties.

The Logistics of Removal

Section 4 of the bill puts a heavy thumb on the scale for the Department of Homeland Security. It mandates that the Secretary of Homeland Security prioritize the deportation of these specific individuals. In the real world, this means if DHS has limited transport or detention space, someone whose citizenship was just revoked for a terrorism offense moves to the top of the list, potentially ahead of other deportation cases. While the bill is clear about which crimes trigger these actions, the 'automatic' nature of the process leaves very little room for judges to consider individual circumstances once a guilty verdict is reached.