The political battle over immigration and ideology has found a new flashpoint — and this time, it’s not about the border. It’s about the front-runner in New York City’s mayoral race.

Two House Republicans are demanding that the Justice Department investigate and potentially strip Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani of his U.S. citizenship — a move that would upend the city’s political landscape and plunge Washington into a heated legal and constitutional fight.

Rep. Randy Fine (R-Fla.) and Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) have urged Attorney General Pam Bondi to open a probe into Mamdani’s naturalization process, alleging that the Uganda-born lawmaker failed to disclose his affiliation with the Democratic Socialists of America when he became a citizen in 2018.

“If there’s any fraud or any violation of the rules, we need to denaturalize and deport,” Fine told reporters last week. “If they’re not Americans, they can’t be in office.”

Denaturalization — the process of revoking someone’s citizenship — is exceedingly rare, typically reserved for individuals who obtained it through clear fraud or concealed war crimes. But Republicans say Mamdani’s omission of his membership in a self-described socialist organization warrants scrutiny under immigration law, which bars naturalization for anyone affiliated with “a Communist or totalitarian party.”

“Zohran Mamdani is an antisemitic, socialist, communist who will destroy the great City of New York,” Ogles wrote in a letter to the Justice Department this summer, calling for Mamdani’s deportation.

He also pointed to Mamdani’s past statements supporting the so-called “Holy Land Five” — a group convicted of funneling money to Hamas in 2008 — as evidence that the mayoral hopeful had “provided material support for terrorism.”

Mamdani has denied those accusations and has repeatedly said he is not a communist. Still, the attacks have stuck — and they’ve thrust his campaign into the center of a national culture war over immigration, loyalty, and political identity.

For Republicans, Mamdani embodies what they see as the radicalization of the Democratic Party. For Democrats, the GOP’s calls to revoke his citizenship represent a dangerous escalation — an attempt to criminalize political dissent and weaponize naturalization laws for partisan gain.

The Justice Department, led by Trump ally and Attorney General Pam Bondi, has not commented on whether a probe has been opened. A spokesperson cited “ongoing delays” related to the partial government shutdown.

Mamdani, 33, rose to prominence as a state assemblyman representing Queens, where his mix of progressive economics and activist energy made him a darling of New York’s left. His campaign for mayor — buoyed by strong polling among young voters and immigrant communities — has drawn endorsements from progressive groups and generated fierce opposition from law-and-order Democrats and conservatives alike.

The firestorm over his citizenship has forced him into a defensive crouch at a critical moment. While he has not commented publicly on the denaturalization push, his campaign has privately described the attacks as “a cynical distraction” from issues like housing affordability and policing.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)