CHIP ROY, THE REPUBLICAN CONGRESSMAN running for attorney general of Texas, is at it again. When we last heard from Roy, he was pushing legislation that would persecute Muslims in the name of fending off sharia. Now he’s using the same tactics to go after socialists. Roy has introduced legislation that would, in effect, allow any immigrant who advocates economic equality—even immigrants who have become citizens—to be kicked out of the country.
On Monday, in a press release announcing the bill, Roy declared that he was “targeting the Red-Green Alliance.” That’s his term for a putative conspiracy between Muslims and Marxists. To spell out his point, literally, he has titled his bill the “Measures Against Marxism’s Dangerous Adherents and Noxious Islamists (MAMDANI) Act of 2026”—a dig at Zohran Mamdani, the Muslim, socialist mayor of New York City.
Roy is late to the MAMDANI game. Last July, Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) introduced the “Measuring Adverse Market Disruption And National Impact Act,” aimed at Mamdani’s proposal to create city-run grocery stores. In November, Rep. Buddy Carter (R-Ga.) filed the “Moving American Money Distant from Anti-National Interests Act,” which would have barred federal funds from going to New York City during Mamdani’s term.
But what Roy lacks in originality, he makes up for in chutzpah. His bill is a frontal assault on political freedom. It would authorize a purge of progressive citizens from the United States.
CURRENT U.S. LAW prohibits the admission of “any immigrant who is or has been a member of or affiliated with the Communist or any other totalitarian party.” Roy’s bill would change that phrase to include anyone who has been affiliated with “a socialist party.”
The bill would also deny admission to anyone who has “advocated for, or who is or was affiliated with, any organization that advocates or advocated for the economic, international, or governmental doctrines of socialism. . . .”
That last clause is significant. Current law focuses on communism as a political ideology. It bars the admission of people who want to overthrow our government. Roy would add an exclusion for people who advocate “economic” socialism, even if they don’t support “governmental” socialism. His language would prohibit the immigration of a democratic socialist such as Mamdani or Bernie Sanders.
In fact, you don’t have to call yourself a socialist. Under this bill, you can be denied entry to the United States just for advocating economic equality.
The bill defines “socialism” to include any movement in which “political power is sought or used, through violent or other means,” to “restructure or advocate the restructuring of economic and social relations to reduce class distinctions.”
The phrase “other means,” in this context, clearly refers to nonviolent means. That pretty much covers anyone who peacefully advocates reducing the gap between rich and poor.
Furthermore, the bill explicitly defines “socialist party” to include the Democratic Socialists of America and any of its branches or affiliates. Among the DSA’s members are many current officeholders, such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.).
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THESE PROHIBITIONS ON SOCIALIST ADVOCACY don’t apply just to prospective immigrants. Under the bill, they’re also grounds to expel people from the United States.
Current law lists several categories of “deportable aliens” who “shall, upon the order of the Attorney General, be removed” from the country. Roy’s bill would extend this list to include anyone who has engaged in “advocacy” for socialism—or, for that matter, anyone who is found to be “possessing” material that promotes socialism. The bill says such a person “is deportable and shall be removed from the United States.”
If you’re an immigrant who has already become a citizen, that won’t protect you. The bill would strip you of your citizenship so you can be deported.
Under current law, if you were naturalized as a citizen within the last five years, and during that time you’ve affiliated with an organization that would have disqualified you from getting naturalized in the first place—i.e., you’ve joined an organization that advocates the violent overthrow of our government—that affiliation is “prima facie evidence” that you were “not attached to the principles of the Constitution” and were “not well disposed to the good order and happiness of the United States at the time of naturalization.” Therefore, “in the absence of countervailing evidence,” your citizenship can be revoked.
Roy’s bill would extend that provision to anyone affiliated with socialism. In addition, it would remove the five-year limit, so you could be stripped of your citizenship at any time. And it would remove the clause about an “absence of countervailing evidence.” In other words, even if you have evidence that you are, in fact, “attached to the principles of the Constitution” and “well disposed to the good order and happiness of the United States,” that wouldn’t save you. Your affiliation with socialism would be sufficient to get you kicked out of the country.
The bill’s removal of the “countervailing evidence” clause is just one part of its wholesale assault on civil liberties. In three separate places, it stipulates that orders to bar or expel people from the United States, under its provisions, “shall be final and shall not be subject to review by any court.’’ For good measure, it rolls back the age of forgivable past socialism from 16 to 14. If you had a pinko poster on your wall at 15, you’re out of here.
And even if you’ve never breathed a word about economics, you can be denaturalized and expelled under this bill. Alongside its prohibitions of “socialism,” it includes parallel rules against “Marxism.” It defines Marxism to include efforts—again, through violent or “other means”—to “establish or advocate for an atheistic society or government prohibitions on private religious practices.” The “or” makes it clear that you can be disqualified even if you’re against prohibiting religious practices. Promoting an “atheistic society” is enough to get you expelled.
AS AN ELECTORAL MATTER, Roy’s bill would empower a right-wing government—the Trump administration, for instance—to strip naturalized Americans of their voting rights. In 2024, these people made up 9 percent of the electorate. By selectively purging progressives from this population, the GOP could tighten its grip on power.
As a constitutional matter, the bill would gut America’s promise of political freedom. In his press release, Roy quotes an endorsement from a right-wing immigration watchdog group: “We have absolutely no obligation to open our doors to aliens who seek to undermine the Constitution, dismantle our republic, or champion ideologies fundamentally opposed to American liberties.”
That’s true. But in this case, the guy who’s undermining our Constitution and dismantling our liberties is the guy who wrote this bill.
All of these MAGA’s are such angry, hateful people!
I really enjoy Will's deconstructions of idiots like Roy (text and video).