Rep. Chip Roy introduced legislation in the House on Monday that would make immigrants deportable, inadmissible, and subject to denaturalization for advocating or affiliating with socialist, communist, Marxist, or Islamic fundamentalist movements, and he named the bill after New York City's socialist mayor.
The Texas Republican's measure, titled the "Measures Against Marxism's Dangerous Adherents and Noxious Islamists" Act, the MAMDANI Act, takes its acronym directly from Zohran Mamdani, the Ugandan-born immigrant who now runs America's largest city. Roy, who is serving his fourth term in the House, has warned about Mamdani and the rise of socialism in the United States since the New Yorker's 2025 mayoral campaign.
The bill would amend the Immigration and Nationality Act. Its language targets "any membership, affiliation, or advocacy of socialist, communist, Chinese communist, Marxist, or Islamic fundamentalist doctrines," the Washington Examiner reported. Beyond deportation, the proposed law would also bar aliens who fit that description from naturalizing or entering the country at all.
Roy framed the legislation as a response to what he called a joint ideological threat from the far left and Islamic fundamentalism. In a statement, the congressman laid out his reasoning bluntly:
"By targeting the Red-Green Alliance, this legislation deploys new tools to fight back against the Marxist and Islamist advance that has devastated Europe and has now arrived on our doorstep, especially in my home state of Texas."
Roy went further, questioning the logic of an immigration system he described as working against American interests for decades. He did not mince words about who he believes the system has served:
"Why do we continue to import people who hate us? Not just for the last six years, but for the last 60 years, our immigration system has been cynically used to disadvantage American workers' competitiveness in favor of mass-importing the third world."
He added that the consequences extend beyond economics. "This has not just led to higher crime and lower wages, but also the promulgation of hostile ideologies fundamentally opposed to American values," Roy said.
A one-pager from Roy's office, shared with Breitbart News, spelled out the bill's rationale even more directly. It stated that "the very presence of Zohran Mamdani and those like him who champion Marxist ideologies" demonstrates how the immigration system "enables the mass importation of Marxists and Islamists."
The MAMDANI Act's provisions go beyond simply barring entry. It would create new deportation grounds for aliens who, after admission, advocate socialist, communist, Marxist, or Islamic fundamentalist ideologies. It would also target those who distribute, publish, or possess materials promoting those movements or supporting parties and organizations aligned with them.
The denaturalization provision is particularly notable. Under current law, stripping citizenship from a naturalized citizen is exceptionally rare, reserved for cases involving fraud or certain criminal conduct. Roy's bill would expand that authority to cover ideological advocacy, a move certain to draw legal challenges if it advances.
The bill text, posted on Roy's official House website, references the Immigration and Nationality Act as the statute it would amend. No formal bill number has been publicly assigned yet, and the Washington Examiner noted it reached out to Mamdani's office for comment but did not report receiving a response.
Zohran Mamdani, a Ugandan immigrant who identifies as a socialist, won the New York City mayoral race in 2025. His tenure has generated a steady stream of controversy that has drawn national attention far beyond the five boroughs.
His administration has faced scrutiny over allegations of internal misconduct tied to his appointees, including a whistleblower who said she was fired after reporting problems.
Mamdani has also drawn fierce backlash for his public associations. His decision to host Mahmoud Khalil at Gracie Mansion for dinner provoked a sharp response from critics who viewed it as a deliberate provocation.
Separately, the mayor scrambled to meet with hand-picked Jewish leaders after weeks of antisemitism controversies engulfed his administration. That damage-control effort did little to quiet his critics.
Roy's decision to name a federal bill after Mamdani elevates the New York mayor into a national symbol of what the Texas congressman views as a broken immigration system, one that, in Roy's telling, allowed a self-described socialist to rise from immigrant to mayor of the nation's largest city.
The bill's timing is not incidental. Roy is running to be Texas's next attorney general and faces a close primary runoff against Texas state Sen. Mayes Middleton. Election Day in that race falls on May 26.
Introducing a bill that takes direct aim at socialist ideology, and at a high-profile Democratic mayor, gives Roy a sharp message to carry into a competitive Republican primary. Whether the MAMDANI Act has any realistic path through committee and onto the House floor is another question entirely. Bills like this often serve as messaging vehicles first and legislative proposals second.
But the underlying argument Roy is making resonates with a large share of Republican primary voters: that the immigration system has, for decades, failed to screen for ideological compatibility with American constitutional principles. That argument predates Roy. It predates Mamdani. And it is not going away.
Mamdani's own record in office has only sharpened the point. His administration has retreated from campaign pledges while facing court challenges, and his handling of media scrutiny has raised its own questions, including a reported decision to cancel a CBS interview over a fire emoji.
Any bill that ties immigration consequences to ideological belief will face First Amendment challenges. The distinction between barring entry for foreign nationals, where the government has broad authority, and stripping citizenship from naturalized Americans is vast. Courts have historically treated denaturalization as an extreme remedy, and extending it to cover political advocacy would test boundaries that have stood for decades.
Roy's office has not publicly addressed those constitutional questions in the materials shared so far. The bill text references the Immigration and Nationality Act, which already contains provisions related to totalitarian party membership, but the MAMDANI Act would expand the scope significantly to cover advocacy and possession of materials, not just formal party membership.
Whether this bill moves or stalls, it forces a conversation that many in Washington would prefer to avoid: Does the United States have any obligation to screen immigrants for commitment to the constitutional order they are joining? Roy clearly thinks the answer is yes. His critics will call the bill a stunt. His supporters will call it overdue.
The real question is simpler than either side wants to admit: When a self-described socialist immigrant sits in the mayor's office of America's largest city and presides over one controversy after another, who exactly is the system working for?
