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Trump Vows to Remove US Citizens. Can He Do That?

Law enforcement and National Guard troops respond to a shooting near the White House on Nov. 26.Photographer: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

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By Erik Larson

December 4, 2025 at 2:55 PM UTC

The Trump administration has unveiled plans to remove legal immigrants from the US, including by canceling green cards and “denaturalizing” some US citizens, after an Afghan national who entered the country in 2021 was accused of shooting two members of the West Virginia National Guard.

“Only REVERSE MIGRATION can fully cure this situation,” President Donald Trump declared on social media after the Nov. 26 shooting in Washington, DC, in a sharp escalation of his anti-immigration rhetoric.