AP Discovers Trump's Immigration Policy Isn't New
AP News notes naturalized citizens' fears under Trump's immigration policies, highlighting Dauda Sesay's disillusionment. What they don't quite illuminate is that America's 'promise' of citizenship has always been conditional, selectively applied, and frequently revoked for people of color. The 1952 McCarran-Walter Act, for instance, explicitly allowed for denaturalization over political
affiliations, not just fraud. The US has a rich history of stripping citizenship from those deemed 'undesirable,' especially during periods of xenophobia, like Japanese Americans during WWII or suspected communists during the Cold War. Trump didn't invent this fear; he's just re-polishing an old tool from the nativist shed. So, naturalized citizens are 'shaking' in their belief? One might wonder
if their belief was ever truly grounded in consistent American practice, or just the mainstream media's selective memory for convenient narratives. The bedrock of naturalization feels like quicksand when the narrative shifts, but perhaps it was always a bit boggy for those not fitting a certain profile.