UNMAKING CITIZENS: THE EXPANSION OF CITIZENSHIP REVOCATION IN RESPONSE TO TERRORISM they may backfire.”76 Citizenship revocation is an extreme harsh step, that could be replaced with alternative “hard” or “soft” approaches or policy measures aimed at security and reducing terrorist threats, while simultaneously ensuring democratic citizenship for all citizens.77 All countries face security challenges and fears related to terrorism. At the same time, citizenship as a democratic ideal must be safeguarded, and tiered legal systems that equate dual citizens or other groups with second-class citizens must be avoided. Reconstructing citizenries through a security lens on inequitable terms may foster exclusion, expand statelessness, increase distrust of government, hinder political or civic integration of immigrants and refugees, and ultimately weaken citizenship. By weakening citizenship, states erode democratic institutions, systems, processes, and principles, which is, in fact, the aim of terrorist groups like ISIS. Recent programmatic interventions and policy approaches to ISIS returnees may provide sufficient alternatives to citizenship revocation for states wary of potential attacks or threats. Additionally, Canada’s reassessment of its citizenship revocation policies may lead to an increased recognition of the dangers of citizenship revocation on security grounds.78 Echoing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s campaign trail tag line of, “a Canadian, is a Canadian, is a Canadian,” all democratic states should take notice and recognize that within democracies, “a citizen, is a citizen, is a citizen.”79 Dr. David J. Trimbach is a geographer and postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife at Oregon State University. His research focuses on human-environment interactions, citizenship, identity, sense of place, and governance. He is a community-engaged scholar that seeks to inform public policy. Dr. Nicole Reiz holds a doctorate in Geography. Her research focuses on geopolitics and legal geography. Her current research explores the legal arrangements of visiting military forces. 76 Byman and Shapiro, Be Afraid. Be A Little Afraid. Byman and Shapiro, Be Afraid. Be A Little Afraid; Lynch III, Bouffard, King, and Vickowski, “The Return of Foreign Fighters to Central Asia”; Responses to returnees: Foreign terrorist fighters and their families; Reed and Pohl, “Tackling the surge of returning foreign fighters.” 78 “Do social media threaten democracy?” The Economist, November 4, 2017, https://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21730871-facebook-google-and-twitter-were-supposed-save-politics-good-informationdrove-out; Douglas Heaven, “The uncertain future of democracy,” BBC, March 30, 2017, http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20170330-the-uncertain-future-of-democracy. 79 “‘A Canadian Is a Canadian’: Liberal Leader Says Terrorists Should Keep Their Citizenship,” Vice News, September 28, 2015, https://news.vice.com/article/a-canadian-is-a-canadian-liberal-leader-says-terrorists-should-keep-their-citizenship. 77 Center for Migration Studies of New York | 12