UNMAKING CITIZENS: THE EXPANSION OF CITIZENSHIP REVOCATION IN RESPONSE TO TERRORISM sought to rectify its citizenship revocation policy, which included a tiered citizenship policy and a revocation policy aimed at preventing terrorist threats, by amending its Harper-era (2006-2015) legislation.14 Australia In 2006, the Howard government, in power from 19962007 and led by Prime Minister John Howard of the center-right Liberal Party, began discussing the potential of enacting revocation legislation in relation to recent acts of terrorism. The Howard government lost power in the 2007 elections however, and so revocation legislation discussions did not translate into state practice until the Liberal-National coalition retook power in 2013, led by Tony Abbott, a senior minister in the Howard government.15 Following Abbott’s election, his government began implementing tough antiterrorism and security-oriented legislation. In 2014, his government pushed forward legislation including the controversial National Security Legislation Amendment Act (NSLAA).16 Although security legislation was enacted, citizenship revocation policy did not pass until after a major terrorist incident in December 2014, which saw Iranianborn Man Haron Monis take 18 hostages for 16 hours in a Sydney Lindt chocolate cafe, leaving 3 dead, including Monis.17 While the exact role of ISIS in this attack is still open to interpretation, the attack contributed to growing fears and the security orientation of the Australian government’s migration and citizenship policies. Even prior to the incident, the Australian state voiced alarm at the estimated number of Australian citizens and residents fighting for ISIS in Iraq and Syria, which propelled the Australian government (ASIO) to cancel suspected terrorists’ passports, preventing them from legally returning to Australia.18 The incident also blends with Australia’s broad legal definition of terrorism, which emphasizes intentionality and ideology.19 Nearly a year after Australia’s first major occurrence of terrorism linked to ISIS, the Australian state, “passed new laws…giving the government power to revoke the Australian citizenship of some people with dual nationality if it suspects they may be engaging in terrorism, even if the people have not been charged with any crime.”20 In December 2015, the Australian government passed the Australian Citizenship Amendment (Allegiance to Australia) Act 2015 (“the Act”).21 Although the law remains controversial, the Australian government perceives the law as a necessary 14 The Canadian Press, “Dual Canadian citizens convicted of terrorism will no longer lose citizenship under new bill,” Global News, June 15, 2017, http://globalnews.ca/news/3532646/bill-c6-passes-senate/. 15 Gibney, “Should Citizenship be Conditional?” 16 National Security Legislation Amendment Act 2014 (Cth.) (Austl.). 17 Michael Safi, “Who was Man Haron Monis? Plenty of intrigue but no clear answers from the Sydney siege inquest,” The Guardian, June 4, 2015, http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/jun/05/who-was-man-haron-monis-plenty-of-intrigue-but-noclear-answers-from-the-sydney-siege-inquest. 18 Simon Benson, “Australia goes into terror lockdown: Spy agencies and customs will lock down borders to potential jihadists,” The Daily Telegraph, June 19, 2014, http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/australia-goes-into-terror-lockdown-spy-agencies-andcustoms-will-lock-down-borders-to-shypotential-jihadists/news-story/4d94741e343c799a3bebb4129ee86c58?=. 19 National Security Legislation Amendment Act 2014 (Cth.) (Austl.); Fergal Davis, “Man Haron Monis: terrorist or deranged lunatic?” The New Daily, August 25, 2015, http://thenewdaily.com.au/news/2015/08/25/doubt-terrorist-attack/. 20 Michelle Innis, “Antiterror Laws Empower Australia to Act Against Dual Citizens,” The New York Times, December 3, 2015, http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/04/world/australia/antiterror-laws-empower-australia-to-act-against-dual-citizens.html?_r=0. 21 Vishakha Sonawane, “Australia Passes Law To Strip Terror Convicts Of Citizenship,” International Business Times, December 4, 2015, http://www.ibtimes.com/australia-passes-law-strip-terror-convicts-citizenship-2211276. Center for Migration Studies of New York | 3