- President Trump called for the rapid deportation of two Muslim American members of Congress following the State of the Union.
- Legal experts confirm that U.S. citizens cannot be deported under the 14th Amendment and existing federal law.
- The administration is moving to re-verify refugee status for approximately 200,000 individuals who arrived since 2021.
(UNITED STATES) — President Donald J. Trump called for the rapid deportation of two Muslim American members of Congress after the 2026 State of the Union, triggering a fast-moving controversy that tested the line between political rhetoric and lawful removal authority.
Trump’s comments, made across February 25–26, 2026, targeted Democratic Reps. Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar after they interrupted his February 24 address to protest his immigration policies.
As of February 26, 2026, neither the Department of Homeland Security nor U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services issued a press release or policy directive authorizing the deportation of U.S. citizens, including Members of Congress.
The White House flare-up followed the lawmakers’ disruption in the House chamber, when they shouted, “You have killed Americans!” before exiting.
On Truth Social on Feb 25, 2026, Trump wrote: “When people can behave like that, and knowing that they are Crooked and Corrupt Politicians, so bad for our Country, we should send them back from where they came — as fast as possible.”
| India | China | ROW | |
|---|---|---|---|
| EB-1 | Apr 01, 2023 | Apr 01, 2023 | Current |
| EB-2 | Jul 15, 2014 | Sep 01, 2021 | Current |
| EB-3 | Nov 15, 2013 | Jun 15, 2021 | Jun 01, 2024 |
| F-1 | Sep 01, 2017 ▲123d | Sep 01, 2017 ▲123d | Sep 01, 2017 ▲123d |
| F-2A | Aug 01, 2024 ▲182d | Aug 01, 2024 ▲182d | Aug 01, 2024 ▲182d |
A day later, Trump escalated his language, calling the lawmakers “mentally deranged” and suggesting they should be “institutionalized” and deported.
The episode landed amid broader messaging from immigration enforcement leadership about stepped-up removals, even as legal constraints bar deportation of U.S. citizens.
In congressional testimony on Feb 10, 2026, Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons framed enforcement in sweeping terms: “The president tasked us with mass deportation, and we are fulfilling that mandate.”
Behind the political rhetoric, DHS and USCIS moved on policy affecting non-citizens, including refugees, with operational consequences that differ sharply from the idea of removing elected U.S. citizens.
A DHS internal memo dated February 18, 2026 and signed by USCIS Director Joseph Edlow and Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons declared refugee status “conditional” and required mandatory re-verification.
The memo described revocation and deportation as potential outcomes if “red flags” appear during re-verification, and it targeted approximately 200,000 refugees who arrived between 2021 and 2025.
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem added another piece of the administration’s enforcement posture on Feb 25, 2026, backing the “Dalilah Law” to bar states from granting commercial driver’s licenses to illegal aliens and citing a commitment to “restoring the rule of law.”
Legal limits, however, put a hard boundary around Trump’s deportation call for Tlaib and Omar, both of whom hold U.S. citizenship as reported.
Tlaib is a native-born U.S. citizen from Detroit, Michigan. Omar was born in Somalia but became a naturalized U.S. citizen nearly 30 years ago.
Under the 14th Amendment and the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), U.S. citizens cannot be deported, a baseline that separates campaign-style rhetoric from lawful removal authority.
Denaturalization provides a narrow, separate route in rare cases, and it generally centers on fraud during the naturalization process rather than political dissent.
A federal judge in Boston also moved this week to block another deportation tool, underscoring due process constraints that can shape how aggressively the government can execute removals even for non-citizens.
On February 25, 2026, U.S. District Judge Brian E. Murphy ruled the administration’s “third-country deportation policy” unconstitutional and said the government must provide “meaningful notice” and due process before removing someone to a third country.
That ruling raised litigation risk for fast-moving removal practices, particularly when the government seeks to transfer migrants to countries where they are not citizens.
Operationally, the dispute also unfolded during a period of strained agency funding, with immigration enforcement continuing despite a partial shutdown.
A partial DHS shutdown began February 14, 2026 amid funding disputes in Congress, though ICE and CBP continued “essential” immigration enforcement operations.
Civil rights advocates criticized Trump’s call as an escalation in tone because it aimed deportation threats at sitting members of Congress and focused on Muslim American lawmakers.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the ACLU condemned the calls as “racist and bigoted,” warning that rhetoric from the executive branch stigmatizes millions of Muslim Americans.
For readers tracking whether political statements translate into agency action, DHS and its components publish written updates that can clarify official policy posture and operational changes over time.
DHS posts statements and releases on its press releases page, while USCIS publishes updates on the USCIS Newsroom and ICE posts enforcement announcements on the ICE Newsroom.
The dispute over Trump’s State of the Union remarks, and the push-and-pull between expansive deportation language and legal limits, left a central point unchanged: U.S. citizens cannot be deported.
