‘Give Me Your Undesirables,
Your Disloyal,
Your Foreign-Born Masses’

Donald Trump’s ICE deportations will accelerate after the passing of his ‘Big Beautiful Bill’. The US’ actions now resemble those of any authoritarian regime America has ever condemned or propped up, writes CJ Werleman

If Adolf Hitler’s Germany and Joseph Stalin’s Soviet Union taught us anything, it’s that the weaponisation of citizenship is not only a major stepping stone on the path to authoritarian or totalitarian rule, but also genocide and ethnic cleansing – remembering that both regimes cancelled passports and stripped citizenship of those perceived to be ‘disloyal’ or ‘undesirable’. The gulags and death camps came later.

In July, US President Donald Trump threatened his former White House aide Elon Musk with deportation after the X owner criticised the Government’s latest round of tax breaks for the wealthy and super-wealthy.

Trump also hinted that he could consider revoking the US citizenship of Uganda-born Zohran Mamdani, New York City’s Democratic mayoral nominee – who has been vocal in his support for Palestinian rights – after he vowed to block ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) deportation raids should he be elected.

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