Authoritarian expert Ruth Ben-Ghiat warned that President Donald Trump took things to the next level with his latest remarks.
Trump threatened to deprive U.S. citizens of their nationality on Tuesday and then deport them if they committed certain crimes, including some people born in the United States.
“They are not new to our country. They are for our country. Many of them were born in our country. I think if you want to know the truth, we should bring them here too,” he said during a visit to the new immigration detention center. “So maybe this will be the next job we work together.”
Comments echoed what Trump said in April about El Salvador’s deportation.
“The next homeland,” Trump said during a meeting with El Salvador President Nayib Bukele.
Ben-Ghiat, the author of “Strong Man: Mussolini Now”, answered Trump’s comments:
Trump’s latest comments were posted in the NPR report that the Justice Department “actively prioritized” efforts to revoke naturalized citizenship committed certain crimes.
He said Tuesday that could include U.S.-born citizens who “hit people in the head with a baseball bat when they are not looking for and killing them” or “riding a knife in the street.” ”
However, Trump also noted that the categories could be much wider at least in the case of naturalized American citizens such as former ally Ally Elon Musk. Trump said after standing out with Musk that he said he would “look at” the eviction of tech billionaires.
