Lawmakers Forcefully Reject Bid To Bar Naturalized Citizens From Political Offices

India-West News Desk

WASHINGTON, DC – Three lawmakers sharply criticized a proposed constitutional amendment introduced by Republican Rep. Nancy Mace that would bar naturalized citizens from serving in Congress, the federal judiciary, and Senate-confirmed government positions.

The proposal drew immediate backlash from Democratic Reps. Raja Krishnamoorthi, Pramila Jayapal, and Shri Thanedar, all of whom were born outside the United States and later became American citizens.

Krishnamoorthi, who immigrated to the US as an infant and later became a naturalized citizen, called the proposal “a betrayal” of longstanding American ideals about immigration and citizenship.

“Representative Mace’s proposal to bar naturalized citizens from serving in Congress, on the federal bench, and in Senate-confirmed positions is a betrayal of that promise and of a principle that has helped define the American story since our founding,” Krishnamoorthi said in a statement.

Referencing former President Ronald Reagan, Krishnamoorthi recalled Reagan’s assertion that “anyone, from any corner of the Earth, can come to live in America and become an American.”

“In this country, patriotism is measured not by birthplace, but by service,” Krishnamoorthi said, adding that Americans willing to serve and sacrifice for the country should not be excluded from public office.

“To suggest that Americans who are willing to serve this country, fight for it, and even give their lives for it are somehow not American enough to serve in public office is an affront to one of the most enduring principles of the American story,” he said.

Jayapal, who was born in India and became a U.S. citizen in 2000, described the proposal as “racist” and “xenophobic,” arguing that it ignored the nation’s immigrant heritage.

“Instead of working to help the American people, as so many cannot keep the lights on, keep food on the table, or pay their rent, Nancy Mace is instead introducing racist legislation that denies the very history of a country that has been proudly shaped by immigrants,” Jayapal said.

She also said the measure was insulting to voters who elected naturalized citizens to office.

“With the exception of Native Americans, every person in this country — including Nancy Mace — is descended from immigrants,” Jayapal said. “America is made stronger by the people from across the world with diverse talents who come here to live and work.”

Jayapal recalled her own naturalization ceremony as “one of the most meaningful days” of her life, saying she still remembers the pride she felt becoming an American citizen alongside hundreds of immigrants from around the world.

“This narrow-minded, xenophobic legislation has no place in Congress,” she said, urging lawmakers from both parties to condemn the proposal.

Thanedar, who immigrated from India and became a U.S. citizen in 1988, also condemned the amendment, accusing Mace of using divisive politics instead of addressing economic concerns facing Americans.

“Gas prices have skyrocketed, people can’t afford healthcare, and housing is through the roof,” Thanedar said in a statement. “Instead of working to solve people’s problems, Rep. Mace is making racist and xenophobic attacks against me and my colleagues.”

He called the proposal “reprehensible.”

Thanedar also escalated the criticism on social media platform X, where he mocked Mace personally and ridiculed the proposal as political theater.

The proposed amendment comes amid heightened national debate over immigration and citizenship and has intensified partisan divisions over who should be eligible to hold high public office in the United States.

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