In his second term, President Donald Trump is aggressively reshaping U.S. citizenship policies to favor the wealthy while targeting immigrants, refugees, and dissenters with restrictive, punitive measures.
Trump has proposed a $5 million “gold visa” card that offers fast-track citizenship to the ultra-rich, cutting the typical years-long vetting process down to two weeks.
Meanwhile, new GOP-backed budget proposals introduce heavy financial barriers for everyone else — $3,500 for unaccompanied minors, $550 for work permits, and $1,000 for asylum applications, which were previously free.
The former president is also challenging the long-held constitutional guarantee of birthright citizenship, aiming to deny citizenship to children born in the U.S. to undocumented immigrants or those on temporary visas.
His case will soon be heard by the Supreme Court, and if successful, it could create a new class of stateless individuals.
In a more alarming move, Trump has revived and expanded denaturalization efforts.
In February, the Justice Department created a “Denaturalization Section” with no statute of limitations, echoing past attempts to review 700,000 naturalized citizens for minor infractions. Former advisor Stephen Miller has vowed to “turbocharge” these efforts.
These measures reflect a dramatic departure from traditional American values of inclusion, diversity, and fairness.
Critics say Trump’s citizenship vision prioritizes wealth and loyalty over merit and human dignity — undermining a centuries-old legacy that welcomed immigrants and fueled U.S. growth.
The policy shift could also endanger due process. Cases such as Turkish student Rumeysa Ozturk, arrested for an op-ed criticizing Trump’s Gaza stance, and Mohsen Mahdawi, detained over political views during a citizenship interview, show how dissenters could be targeted under this new regime.
Despite it all, Mahdawi says he still believes in American democracy and justice. But many warn that under Trump’s vision, citizenship is becoming a privilege for the rich and compliant, not a promise of equality and opportunity for all.
