By Greg Chandler
Zeeland Record
U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga has introduced legislation that would overhaul deportation proceedings for naturalized U.S. citizens who are convicted of financing, materially supporting, or outright committing acts of terror.
Huizenga, R-Holland Twp., introduced the Deport the Terrorists Act (House Bill 9096) in the House of Representatives on June 2.
“American citizenship is one of our nation's greatest privileges,” Huizenga said in a press release. “If a naturalized citizen is convicted of committing, supporting, or financing acts of terror, they should lose their citizenship and swiftly be deported from the United States."
Under current law, a naturalized citizen cannot be removed even for the most violent acts of terror without first going through the slow and complex denaturalization process. This loophole has allowed individuals who embraced terrorist ideologies after gaining citizenship to remain shielded from swift removal, Huizenga said.
Huizenga cited the recent case of Ayman Muhammad Ghazali, a naturalized citizen from Lebanon, who in March carried out an attempted mass casualty attack on Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, the largest Jewish temple in Michigan, ramming his truck full of explosives into the synagogue and opening fire on congregants before he was killed by temple security.
In another instance, Huizenga said, Mohamed Bilor Jalloh, a naturalized citizen from Sierra Leone, became radicalized with ISIS views while serving in the U.S. Army National Guard. In 2016, Jalloh pleaded guilty to attempting to aid ISIS fighters with money and weapons and was sentenced to 11 years in prison but was released early in 2024.
On March 12, 2026, Jalloh shot and killed ROTC Professor Lt. Col. Brandon Shah and wounded two others at Old Dominion University in Virginia. Huizenga said Jalloh would have been deported under his previous conviction if his bill had been law at that time, and therefore unable to carry out the shooting at Old Dominion.
The Deport the Terrorists Act automatically revokes the citizenship of any naturalized U.S. citizen convicted of a terrorism-related offense and makes such individuals immediately removable by creating new grounds for deportation for convictions involving terrorism, including conspiracy and solicitation. It also directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to prioritize the removal of any individual whose citizenship is revoked due to a terrorism-related conviction.
Huizenga’s legislation has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee.
Zeeland Record
U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga has introduced legislation that would overhaul deportation proceedings for naturalized U.S. citizens who are convicted of financing, materially supporting, or outright committing acts of terror.
Huizenga, R-Holland Twp., introduced the Deport the Terrorists Act (House Bill 9096) in the House of Representatives on June 2.
“American citizenship is one of our nation's greatest privileges,” Huizenga said in a press release. “If a naturalized citizen is convicted of committing, supporting, or financing acts of terror, they should lose their citizenship and swiftly be deported from the United States."
Under current law, a naturalized citizen cannot be removed even for the most violent acts of terror without first going through the slow and complex denaturalization process. This loophole has allowed individuals who embraced terrorist ideologies after gaining citizenship to remain shielded from swift removal, Huizenga said.
Huizenga cited the recent case of Ayman Muhammad Ghazali, a naturalized citizen from Lebanon, who in March carried out an attempted mass casualty attack on Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, the largest Jewish temple in Michigan, ramming his truck full of explosives into the synagogue and opening fire on congregants before he was killed by temple security.
In another instance, Huizenga said, Mohamed Bilor Jalloh, a naturalized citizen from Sierra Leone, became radicalized with ISIS views while serving in the U.S. Army National Guard. In 2016, Jalloh pleaded guilty to attempting to aid ISIS fighters with money and weapons and was sentenced to 11 years in prison but was released early in 2024.
On March 12, 2026, Jalloh shot and killed ROTC Professor Lt. Col. Brandon Shah and wounded two others at Old Dominion University in Virginia. Huizenga said Jalloh would have been deported under his previous conviction if his bill had been law at that time, and therefore unable to carry out the shooting at Old Dominion.
The Deport the Terrorists Act automatically revokes the citizenship of any naturalized U.S. citizen convicted of a terrorism-related offense and makes such individuals immediately removable by creating new grounds for deportation for convictions involving terrorism, including conspiracy and solicitation. It also directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to prioritize the removal of any individual whose citizenship is revoked due to a terrorism-related conviction.
Huizenga’s legislation has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee.
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