Naturalized Americans fear uncertainty under Trump’s immigration policies

When Dauda Sesay first arrived in the United States after fleeing civil war in Sierra Leone and spending nearly a decade in a refugee camp, he never imagined he could one day become an American citizen. But when he learned that following the rules and staying out of trouble could open that path, he pursued it, believing that citizenship would grant him both rights and protection.

Becoming a U.S. citizen, he thought, meant mutual commitment: he would pledge allegiance to his new country, and in turn, the country would stand by him.

“When I raised my hand and took the oath of allegiance, I did believe at that moment the promise that I belonged,” said Sesay, 48, who arrived in Louisiana more than 15 years ago and now works as an advocate for refugee integration.

Today, however, Sesay and many other naturalized citizens say that faith feels shaken.

As President Donald Trump’s administration pushes aggressive changes to immigration policy, from expanded deportation powers to discussions about ending birthright citizenship, even naturalized Americans are feeling uncertain about their place in the country they call home.

Fear and Uncertainty Among Citizens

Some naturalized citizens now worry about traveling abroad, afraid that they could face questioning or detention upon reentry to the U.S. Others cite reports of citizens mistakenly targeted in immigration enforcement actions.

“There’s no evidence of a major increase in denaturalizations under Trump,” analysts note, but fear persists. Sesay admits that even within the U.S., he rarely travels without his passport, despite already having a federally recognized REAL ID.

Recent immigration enforcement raids in cities such as Chicago and New York, often involving masked, unidentified agents, have reportedly included American citizens. One U.S. citizen, allegedly detained twice by immigration officers, has since filed a federal lawsuit.

The Justice Department further heightened anxieties this summer when it announced plans to expand efforts to denaturalize individuals accused of crimes or deemed national security risks. And when Trump publicly questioned the citizenship of Zohran Mamdani, New York City’s mayor-elect, it only deepened fears that the government could arbitrarily challenge citizenship status.

For many, the fear runs so deep that they avoid speaking publicly. Sesay, one of the few willing to go on record, said the atmosphere feels tense and unfamiliar.

“I’ve Never Seen Naturalized Citizens So Afraid”

In New Mexico, State Senator Cindy Nava, who once lived undocumented before obtaining citizenship through marriage, said she has witnessed this fear firsthand.

“I had never seen those folks be afraid, now the folks that I know that were not afraid before, now they are uncertain of what their status holds in terms of a safety net for them,” Nava said.

She described a growing unease among naturalized Americans, many of whom feel that the meaning of citizenship itself has become unstable.

The Meaning of Citizenship Through U.S. History

The idea of citizenship, who qualifies and what it guarantees, has evolved repeatedly throughout U.S. history.

Stephen Kantrowitz, a historian at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, explained that although the term “citizen” appears in the Constitution, it was never clearly defined.

“When the Constitution is written, nobody knows what citizenship means,” he said. “It sort of suggests equality within a political community, but it was, and still is, so undefined.”

Early U.S. law restricted citizenship to “free white persons,” later expanding to include people of African descent after the Civil War and the 14th Amendment, which established birthright citizenship. Yet exclusionary laws persisted for decades, including the Immigration Act of 1924, which barred most Asian immigrants from naturalizing, a policy that stood until 1952.

Even after achieving citizenship, some groups have seen it stripped away. The 1923 Supreme Court ruling in U.S. v. Bhagat Singh Thind revoked naturalization for Indian immigrants deemed “not white,” and during World War II, Japanese Americans were interned despite being U.S. citizens.

“Political power will sometimes simply decide that a group of people isn’t entitled to citizenship,” Kantrowitz said.

“Not the America I Believed In”

For Sesay, the recent climate feels like a betrayal of that original promise, the belief that becoming a citizen meant permanent belonging.

“The United States of America, that’s what I took that oath of allegiance, that’s what I made a commitment to,” he said. “Now, inside my home country, I’m seeing a shift. Honestly, that is not the America I believed in when I put my hand over my heart.”