Current Immigration Policies are Dangerous to our Democracy
- Chris Harden for Congress
- Dec 28, 2025
- 2 min read
When it comes to immigration, all I hear is “they need to come here the right way!” A naturalized citizens is an immigrant who has gone through the legal process to become an American citizen. Denaturalization is the legal process of stripping those citizens of their citizenship.
In 2026, the Trump Administration plans to ramp up denationalization to 200 case per month. Since 2017, there has only been 120 denationalization case filed. And, since 1990 there has been an average of 11 per year.
Now the Administration is going to spin it as these people have committed some sort of fraud on their applications. But remember, the administration, in the name of “safety,” has already strip people of their legal status in order to deport them, even grabbing them at their swearing in service; they have blocked asylum seekers from southern borders; put travel bans in place from African countries; and paused applications for green card and U.S. citizenship processing. All of these are legal ways of coming here.
Is this truly about immigrants being here undocumented? If so, why are we stripping them of their status? Is this just so Trump can claim he has more deportations than any other president? Does it not matter how he gets those numbers? Where is congressional oversight?
I too believe in a strong border. I too believe that immigrants should come here the “right way.” But I also believe in America being a melting pot and a land of opportunity! I believe America is made better by those motivated to come here to make a better life for themselves and their families.
If we want to encourage people to come here the “right way” then violating their due process and/or stripping them of their citizenship and status will not be effective. It is not Constitutional and it is not American. If the solution is more problematic than the issue its designed to fix then it is the wrong solution.
For those that can help make America better by filling our labor shortages, paying taxes, and spending money in our communities, we need to cut down on time and money it takes to go through the immigration process. We need to make work visas more accessible. We need to provide programs to help make assimilation easier. And, we need to make it to where they do not live in fear!
Yet, we still need to continue our rigorous vetting to keep out those with bad intentions; continue to deport those that slip through and who have been found guilty of felonious crimes or who refuse to go through the process.
This administration’s current immigration policies are dangerous to our democracy. We can do better. Let’s do something different together.
