Recent actions by former President Donald Trump have raised concerns about his approach to citizenship and immigration in America. His attempts to control who gets to be called an American citizen have sparked debates about the true nature of his policies.
According to MSNBC, Trump has made several moves this year that show his stance on citizenship. He tried to remove birthright citizenship rights from the Constitution, attempted to deport immigrants who have lived in America for decades with green cards and temporary protected status, and wanted to add new ideological rules for some people to stay in the country.
Over the weekend, Trump suggested taking away Rosie O’Donnell’s citizenship, even though she was born in New York, simply because she criticized him. This move was clearly against the Constitution and showed that Trump’s real focus might not be on protecting America’s immigration system, but on targeting his critics, despite legal challenges from multiple states.
How Trump’s actions go against America’s founding principles
The country’s founding fathers created America with the idea that citizenship would not depend on race or family background, but on believing in shared political values. Hamilton, Jay, and Madison all wrote about how American identity should be based on common political beliefs rather than ancestral ties.
Trump’s threat to strip Rosie O’Donnell of her citizenship is a test of our willingness to submit to his #fascism and cruelty. He's testing how far we'll let him go in seizing autocratic power. The concentration camps that Fox 'News' hysteria claimed #Obama would create to
— Paradigm Shift(@zWholeBeing) July 16, 2025
Trump’s recent actions seem to go against these founding principles. He regularly speaks against immigrants and has suggested taking away citizenship from naturalized citizens. His administration has used words like “invasion” when talking about immigration and has used military resources for immigration raids.
The debate about who should be an American citizen has been going on since the country began. History shows that America has generally moved toward including more people over time, from changes made after the Civil War to immigration reforms in the 1960s.
These current attempts to limit citizenship and target critics are particularly concerning because they’re happening when immigration is being used as a political tool rather than being treated as a policy issue that needs solving. Trump’s actions suggest he wants to decide who is American based on whether they support him, not on the principles the country was founded on.
