US Representative (Tennessee) Andy Ogles wrote a letter Thursday to US Attorney General Pam Bondi requesting the Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate whether the candidate for the mayor of New York City, Zohran Mamdan, should be subject to denaturalization and deportation.
Mamdani was born in Uganda to Indian parents in 1991. He moved to the US when he was seven years old and wasn’t fully naturalized until 2018, when he turned 25 years old.
Ogles bases his request, in part, on lyrics from a song Mamdani made in 2019 in which he sang about freeing the “Holy Land Five.” These were members of the Holy Land Foundation convicted in 2008 for donating $12 million to Hamas. This is a matter of concern for Ogles, and prompted him to question Mamdani’s geopolitical sympathies, which may have been unexpressed during his naturalization process.
“According to public reports, including a June 21, 2025 New York Post article, Mr. Mamdani expressed open solidarity with individuals convicted of terrorism-related offenses prior to becoming a U.S. citizen,’” Ogles wrote. “Specifically, he rapped: ‘Free the Holy Land Five / My guys.’ The Holy Land Foundation was convicted in 2008 for providing material support to Hamas, a designated foreign terrorist organization. Publicly praising the Foundation’s convicted leadership as ‘my guys’ raises serious concerns about whether Mr. Mamdani held affiliations or sympathies he failed to disclose during the naturalization process.”
This claim brings up the matter of freedom of speech protected by the First Amendment to the US Constitution. Ogles claimed, nonetheless, that Mamdani must be held accountable for his lyrics, which suggest conduct that could jeopardize one’s naturalization.
“While I understand that some may raise First Amendment concerns about taking legal action based on expressive conduct, such as rap lyrics, speech alone does not preclude accountability where it reasonably suggests underlying conduct relevant to eligibility for naturalization,” Ogles argued. “If an individual publicly glorifies a group convicted of financing terrorism, it is entirely appropriate for federal authorities to inquire whether that individual engaged in non-public forms of support such as organizational affiliation, fundraising, or advocacy—that would have required disclosure on Form N-400 or during a naturalization interview.”
Moving away from the Holy Land Foundation, Ogles focused on Mamdani’s refusal to reject pro-Palestinian rallying cries associated with Hamas. The congressman stated this “warrants formal scrutiny.”
“Moreover, Mr. Mamdani has recently refused opportunities to reject the pro-terrorist rallying cry to ‘globalize the intifada’— a call to expand violent attacks on civilians to the United States and around the world,” Ogles wrote.
Overall, Ogles finds that Mamdani may have concealed associations contradictory to the national security of the US, which is why he is urging the DOJ to investigate the NYC mayoral candidate:
“The naturalization process depends on the good-faith disclosure of any affiliation with, or support for, groups that threaten U.S. national security. If Mr. Mamdani concealed relevant associations, that concealment may constitute a material misrepresentation sufficient to support denaturalization under federal law.”
Though Ogles’ letter is requesting an investigation as to whether Mamdani should be denaturalized or not, the congressman expressed on X that Mamdani “needs to be DEPORTED.”
