U.S. President Donald Trump smiles during an announcement about "Trump accounts", in the Roosevelt Room at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., December 2, 2025. REUTERS/Brian Snyder

When President Donald Trump issued an executive order calling for birthright citizenship to be abolished, he drew scathing criticism from a wide range of constitutional scholars and immigration lawyers — as birthright citizenship is in the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment. Adopted during Reconstruction in 1868, the 14th Amendment clearly states, "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside."

But Trump's attacks on immigration go beyond mass deportations and an executive order defying a 157-year-old constitutional amendment.

In a scathing article published by the conservative website The Bulwark on December 3, journalist Will Saletan warns that Trump is dangerously crossing "another line" by threatening denaturalization of U.S. citizens.

"First, he targeted illegal immigrants," Saletan explains. "Then, he went after legal immigrants. Now, he's attacking naturalized Americans: citizens of this country who were born elsewhere, particularly in what Trump contemptuously calls the 'Third World.' He's trying to turn white Americans against non-white Americans."

Trump, Saletan notes, is threatening to "denaturalize migrants who undermine domestic tranquility."

MAGA Republicans have been calling for Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minnesota) and New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, both naturalized U.S. citizens, to be deported. But Saletan emphasizes that Trump has no business demanding Omar's deportation simply because he dislikes her progressive politics.

"In particular," Saletan observes, "(Trump) lambasted Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, a naturalized American who was born in Somalia and who, according to Trump's Thanksgiving rants, is 'always wrapped in her swaddling hijab' and should be thrown 'the hell out of our country.' In front of the cameras, the president told his Cabinet on Tuesday, (December 2): 'Ilhan Omar is garbage. She's garbage. Her friends are garbage. These aren't people that work…. These are people that do nothing but complain…. We don't want 'em in our country. Let 'em go back to where they came from and fix it.'"

With Trump and other MAGA Republicans, Saletan warns, "there's no need for dog whistles anymore."

"The government of the United States now openly stands for bigotry," the Bulwark journalist laments. "It's not just closing our borders; it's targeting Americans. And depending on where you came from, you might be next."

Will Saletan's full article for The Bulwark is available at this link.