SCAM Act

(a) Findings. Congress finds the following:

(1) Becoming a naturalized United States citizen means not only having the right to live and work in the United States and gaining access to various social, economic, and political benefits, but also accepting sacred duties and obligations to our Nation.

(2) In recent years, many naturalized citizens have betrayed those sacred duties and obligations, eschewed responsible citizenship, and instead viewed their new citizenship status as a purely administrative benefit granting them access to privileges, immunities, and benefits they can leverage for their own personal gain.

(3) Naturalization is a long-standing, time-honored, and essential American tradition.

(4) An applicant wishing to become a citizen of the United States must demonstrate, at the time of naturalization, that he or she is—

(A) a person of good moral character;

(B) attached to the principles of the Constitution of the United States; and

(C) well disposed to the good order and happiness of the United States.

(5) Any person who has been convicted of fraud against a governmental program demonstrates moral turpitude and any person who has been convicted of fraud against a governmental program after being extended the privilege of United States citizenship demonstrates, both at the time of such conviction and at the time of his or her naturalization, that he or she is not and was not—

(A) a person of good moral character;

(B) attached to the principles of the Constitution of the United States; and

(C) well disposed to the good order and happiness of the United States.

(6) Any person who affiliates with a foreign terrorist organization, such as a drug cartel, or engages in espionage puts our Nation's security at great risk of degradation and any person who affiliates with a foreign terrorist organization or engages in espionage after being extended the privilege of United States citizenship demonstrates, both at the time of such affiliation or espionage and at the time of his or her naturalization, that he or she is not and was not—

(A) a person of good moral character;

(B) attached to the principles of the Constitution of the United States; and

(C) well disposed to the good order and happiness of the United States.

(7) Any alien who has been convicted of an aggravated felony is deportable and designated as permanently ineligible for naturalization and any person who has been convicted of an aggravated felony after being extended the privilege of United States citizenship demonstrates, both at the time of such conviction and at the time of his or her naturalization, that he or she is not and was not—

(A) a person of good moral character;

(B) attached to the principles of the Constitution of the United States; and

(C) well disposed to the good order and happiness of the United States.

(8) As the Supreme Court has noted: An alien has no moral nor constitutional right to retain the privileges of citizenship if, by false evidence or the like, an imposition has been practiced upon the court, without which the certificate could not and would not have been issued. (Johannessen v. United States, 225 U.S. 227, 241 (1912)).

(9) The Supreme Court has also explained: No alien has the slightest right to naturalization unless all statutory requirements are complied with; and every certificate of citizenship must be treated as granted upon condition that the government may challenge it . . . and demand its cancelation unless issued in accordance with such requirements. If procured when prescribed qualifications have no existence in fact, it is illegally procured . . . . (United States v. Ginsberg, 243 U.S. 472, 475 (1917)).

(b) Sense of Congress. It is the sense of Congress that the Supreme Court, in Costello v. INS, 376 U.S. 120 (1964), misconstrued the effects of denaturalization under section 340 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1451) for the reasons stated in the concurring opinion in Castillo v. Bondi, 140 F.4th 777 (6th Cir. 2025) (Thapar, J., concurring).