SCAM Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7156 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 7156

     To expand and clarify the grounds for civil denaturalization
proceedings for individuals who have defrauded a governmental program,
    joined a terrorist organization, or committed certain criminal
                               offenses.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 20, 2026

 Mr. Emmer (for himself, Mr. Stauber, Mrs. Fischbach, Mr. Finstad, Mr.
   Gooden, Mr. Nehls, Mr. Roy, Mr. Alford, Ms. Mace, Mr. Baird, Mr.
 McGuire, Mr. Weber of Texas, Mr. Donalds, Mr. Rogers of Alabama, Mr.
 Gill of Texas, Mr. Palmer, Ms. Van Duyne, Mr. Carter of Georgia, Mr.
 Gosar, Mr. Kennedy of Utah, Mr. Guest, Mr. Moore of Alabama, Mr. Bean
   of Florida, Mr. Hunt, Mr. Patronis, Mr. Jack, Mr. Moore of North
  Carolina, Mr. Rose, Mr. Self, Mr. Crane, Mr. Bost, Mr. Norman, Mr.
Shreve, Mrs. Luna, Mr. Timmons, Mr. McDowell, Mr. Jackson of Texas, Mr.
  Collins, Mr. Goldman of Texas, Mr. Williams of Texas, Mr. Wilson of
    South Carolina, Mr. Austin Scott of Georgia, and Mr. Burchett)
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
                             the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

     To expand and clarify the grounds for civil denaturalization
proceedings for individuals who have defrauded a governmental program,
    joined a terrorist organization, or committed certain criminal
                               offenses.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLES.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Stop Citizenship Abuse and
Misrepresentation Act'' or the ``SCAM Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) Becoming a naturalized United States citizen means not
        only having the right to live and work in the United States and
        gaining access to various social, economic, and political
        benefits, but also accepting sacred duties and obligations to
        our Nation.
            (2) In recent years, many naturalized citizens have
        betrayed those sacred duties and obligations, eschewed
        responsible citizenship, and instead viewed their new
        citizenship status as a purely administrative benefit granting
        them access to privileges, immunities, and benefits they can
        leverage for their own personal gain.
            (3) Naturalization is a long-standing, time-honored, and
        essential American tradition.
            (4) An applicant wishing to become a citizen of the United
        States must demonstrate, at the time of naturalization, that he
        or she is--
                    (A) a person of good moral character;
                    (B) attached to the principles of the Constitution
                of the United States; and
                    (C) well disposed to the good order and happiness
                of the United States.
            (5) Any person who has been convicted of fraud against a
        governmental program demonstrates moral turpitude and any
        person who has been convicted of fraud against a governmental
        program after being extended the privilege of United States
        citizenship demonstrates, both at the time of such conviction
        and at the time of his or her naturalization, that he or she is
        not and was not--
                    (A) a person of good moral character;
                    (B) attached to the principles of the Constitution
                of the United States; and
                    (C) well disposed to the good order and happiness
                of the United States.
            (6) Any person who affiliates with a foreign terrorist
        organization, such as a drug cartel, or engages in espionage
        puts our Nation's security at great risk of degradation and any
        person who affiliates with a foreign terrorist organization or
        engages in espionage after being extended the privilege of
        United States citizenship demonstrates, both at the time of
        such affiliation or espionage and at the time of his or her
        naturalization, that he or she is not and was not--
                    (A) a person of good moral character;
                    (B) attached to the principles of the Constitution
                of the United States; and
                    (C) well disposed to the good order and happiness
                of the United States.
            (7) Any alien who has been convicted of an aggravated
        felony is deportable and designated as permanently ineligible
        for naturalization and any person who has been convicted of an
        aggravated felony after being extended the privilege of United
        States citizenship demonstrates, both at the time of such
        conviction and at the time of his or her naturalization, that
        he or she is not and was not--
                    (A) a person of good moral character;
                    (B) attached to the principles of the Constitution
                of the United States; and
                    (C) well disposed to the good order and happiness
                of the United States.
            (8) As the Supreme Court has noted: ``An alien has no moral
        nor constitutional right to retain the privileges of
        citizenship if, by false evidence or the like, an imposition
        has been practiced upon the court, without which the
        certificate could not and would not have been issued.''
        (Johannessen v. United States, 225 U.S. 227, 241 (1912)).
            (9) The Supreme Court has also explained: ``No alien has
        the slightest right to naturalization unless all statutory
        requirements are complied with; and every certificate of
        citizenship must be treated as granted upon condition that the
        government may challenge it . . . and demand its cancelation
        unless issued in accordance with such requirements. If procured
        when prescribed qualifications have no existence in fact, it is
        illegally procured . . . .'' (United States v. Ginsberg, 243
        U.S. 472, 475 (1917)).
    (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that the
Supreme Court, in Costello v. INS, 376 U.S. 120 (1964), misconstrued
the effects of denaturalization under section 340 of the Immigration
and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1451) for the reasons stated in the
concurring opinion in Castillo v. Bondi, 140 F.4th 777 (6th Cir. 2025)
(Thapar, J., concurring).

SEC. 3. PURPOSE.

    The purpose of this Act is to expand and clarify the grounds for
the United States to pursue civil denaturalization proceedings against
individuals who have proven, by defrauding a governmental program,
affiliating with a foreign terrorist organization, or committing
certain criminal offenses, that, at the time they were naturalized,
they lacked the good moral character, attachment to the Constitution of
the United States, and disposition to the good order and happiness of
the United States that our Nation demands of those who desire to become
naturalized citizens.

SEC. 4. EXPANDING AND CLARIFYING DENATURALIZATION FOR INDIVIDUALS WHO
              LACK GOOD MORAL CHARACTER AND AN ATTACHMENT TO THE
              CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES AND ARE NOT WELL
              DISPOSED TO THE GOOD ORDER AND HAPPINESS OF THE UNITED
              STATES.

    Section 340 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1451)
is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a), by inserting ``the Attorney General
        or'' after ``It shall be the duty of'';
            (2) by redesignating subsections (d), (e), (f), (g), and
        (h) as subsections (i), (j), (k), (l), and (m), respectively;
        and
            (3) by inserting after subsection (c) the following:
    ``(d) Membership in Foreign Terrorist Organization.--If a person,
during the 10-year period beginning on the date on which he or she was
naturalized under this chapter, associates with, conspires with, aids,
or abets any foreign terrorist organization (as designated under
section 219(a)), such action shall be considered prima facie and
sufficient evidence that--
            ``(1) such person, at the time of his or her
        naturalization--
                    ``(A) was not a person of good moral character;
                    ``(B) was not attached to the principles of the
                Constitution of the United States; and
                    ``(C) was not well disposed to the good order and
                happiness of the United States;
            ``(2) the order admitting such person to citizenship--
                    ``(A) was obtained by concealment of a material
                fact or by willful misrepresentation; and
                    ``(B) shall be revoked and set aside, along with
                the cancellation of his or her certificate of
                naturalization; and
            ``(3) such revocation and setting aside of such admission
        order and such cancellation of such certificate of
        naturalization shall be effective as of the original date of
        such order and certificate, respectively.
    ``(e) Defrauding Federal, State, Local, or Tribal Governments.--If
a person who has been naturalized under this chapter is convicted of,
admits to having committed, or admits to committing acts constituting
the essential elements of, an offense involving fraud, an attempt to
defraud, or conspiracy to defraud the Federal Government, a State
government, a local government, or a tribal government (such as
defrauding the United States Government of a Federal public benefit (as
defined in section 401 of the Personal Responsibility and Work
Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1611(c)))) or
defrauding a State or local government of a State or local public
benefit (as defined in section 411(c) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1621(c))),
of at least $10,000, and any act or acts leading to such conviction or
admission began or occurred during the 10-year period beginning on the
date of his or her naturalization, such conviction or admission shall
be considered prima facie and sufficient evidence that--
            ``(1) such person, at the time of his or her
        naturalization--
                    ``(A) was not a person of good moral character;
                    ``(B) was not attached to the principles of the
                Constitution of the United States; and
                    ``(C) was not well disposed to the good order and
                happiness of the United States;
            ``(2) the order admitting such person to citizenship--
                    ``(A) was obtained by concealment of a material
                fact or by willful misrepresentation; and
                    ``(B) shall be revoked and set aside, along with
                the cancellation of his or her certificate of
                naturalization; and
            ``(3) such revocation and setting aside of such admission
        order and such cancellation of such certificate of
        naturalization shall be effective as of the original date of
        such order and certificate, respectively.
    ``(f) Committing an Aggravated Felony or Espionage Offense.--If a
person who has been naturalized under this chapter is convicted of,
admits to having committed, or admits to committing acts constituting
the essential elements of, an aggravated felony or espionage offense
(including any offense described in section 792, 793, 794, 795, 796,
797, 798, 951, 1030(a)(1), 1831, 1832, 2152, 2153, 2154, 2155, or 2156
of title 18, United States Code; or an offense described in section 783
or 3121 of title 50, United States Code), and any act or acts leading
to such conviction or admission began or occurred during the 10-year
period beginning on the date on which he or she was naturalized, such
conviction or admission shall be considered prima facie and sufficient
evidence that--
            ``(1) such person, at the time of his or her
        naturalization--
                    ``(A) was not a person of good moral character;
                    ``(B) was not attached to the principles of the
                Constitution of the United States; and
                    ``(C) was not well disposed to the good order and
                happiness of the United States;
            ``(2) the order admitting such person to citizenship--
                    ``(A) was obtained by concealment of a material
                fact or by willful misrepresentation; and
                    ``(B) shall be revoked and set aside, along with
                the cancellation of his or her certificate of
                naturalization; and
            ``(3) such revocation and setting aside of such admission
        order and such cancellation of such certificate of
        naturalization shall be effective as of the original date of
        such order and certificate, respectively.
    ``(g) Fallback Provision.--If the 10-year period set forth in
subsection (d), (e), or (f) is held to be unconstitutional or
constitutionally insufficient by final judicial decision, for purposes
of interpreting this Act--
            ``(1) such 10-year period shall be deemed to be a 5-year
        period, consistent with the published judicial opinion in Luria
        v. United States, 231 U.S. 27 (1913); and
            ``(2) every court of the United States shall construe such
        period to be 5 years.
    ``(h) Effects of Denaturalization.--
            ``(1) Effective date.--The revocation and setting aside of
        a person's admission order and cancellation of the person's
        certificate of naturalization under this section shall be
        effective as of the original date of such order and
        certificate, respectively. Such denaturalization shall have
        retroactive effect, and the certificate of naturalization shall
        be treated as void from the date on which it was issued.
            ``(2) Removability.--Any person whose certificate of
        naturalization is cancelled under this section shall be
        removable pursuant to expedited proceedings described in
        section 238, regardless of--
                    ``(A) the person's immigration status after
                denaturalization; and
                    ``(B) the time that has elapsed since the date on
                which such person was naturalized.''.

SEC. 5. SEVERABILITY.

    If any provision of this Act, an amendment made by this Act, or the
application of such a provision or amendment to any particular person
or circumstance is held to be unconstitutional, the remaining
provisions of this Act and amendments made by this Act, and the
application of such provisions and amendments to any other person or
circumstance, shall not be affected.
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