Mo Brooks Torches GOP Bill Targeting Naturalized Citizens: “It’s Borderline Evil” Calling Secretary of State Wes Allen, Senator Donnie Chesteen and Representative Marques "Brainless."

By Christopher M Peeks November 10, 2025

On the latest episode of the BCS: State of Alabama podcast, former Congressman Mo Brooks unleashed a blistering critique of a proposed constitutional amendment that would bar naturalized citizens from holding public office in Alabama. The bill—Senate Bill 21—is sponsored by State Senator Donnie Chesteen (R-Geneva) and State Representative Rhett Marques (R-Enterprise), and is being championed by Secretary of State Wes Allen.

Brooks called the measure “wholly unconstitutional,” “political suicide,” and “borderline evil.”

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📜 “It Violates the Constitution”

Brooks, a former federal prosecutor and constitutional attorney, laid out a forceful legal argument:

> “It violates the Due Process Clauses of the 5th and 14th Amendments. It violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. And it violates the Naturalization Clause, which empowers the federal government—not the states—to control who can become citizens and what their rights and responsibilities are once they become citizens. So in my judgment, it’s wholly unconstitutional

Mo Brooks calls out Wes Allen

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🗳️ “Political Suicide” for Republicans

Brooks warned that the bill’s political consequences could be catastrophic:

> “They have done more to help Democrats win elections than anybody in the state of Alabama in my lifetime. Because you’ve got roughly 19 or 20 million Americans who are naturalized citizens who are registered to vote. And now you’ve got a bunch of yahoos who are Republicans sending out the message that Republicans want to make these 19 to 20 million voters second-class citizens. Now, if I’m a Democrat strategist, I beat that like a drum.”

He added:

> “I’d try to get the votes of every one of these naturalized citizens by talking about how much the Republican Party hates them, as evidenced by what Allen, Chesteen, and Marques in Alabama want to do to them. To me, it’s political suicide. And they’re not going to win. As soon as it goes to court, it’s going to get struck down.”

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🎯 “A Campaign Gimmick” with National Consequences

Brooks suggested the bill is a cynical ploy to boost political ambitions:

> “I’m sure Wes Allen thinks this is a good position to take to help him get elected to higher office. Same thing for State Legislator Marques down in Baldwin County—he wants to be a United States Senator. So he thinks, ‘Hey, I can support this bill and it’ll help me get elected.’ It’s a campaign kind of gimmick. But gosh, it sends an awful message to people who are now fellow Americans who became citizens the right way.”

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🧨 “It Brings Back Jim Crow Thoughts”

Brooks didn’t hold back on the moral implications:

> “I am personally affronted at what these three Republicans have done. It’s a bad image for the state of Alabama. It brings back Jim Crow thoughts. It’s a bad image for the Republican Party. And quite frankly, I’m really surprised that more Republicans have not been outraged by this legislation. I might be the only one who has publicly taken a stand against it.”

He challenged his party directly:

> “Where is everybody else who believes in equal protection? Where is everybody else who believes in the United States Constitution? Where is everybody else who thinks we ought to treat our fellow citizens in a good way?”

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🇺🇸 “They Are By Definition One of Us”

Brooks closed with a powerful defense of naturalized citizens:

> “Once they have complied with our laws, lived in the United States for the required period of time, dotted all the I’s, crossed all the T’s, haven’t committed criminal offenses, and become citizens—they are by definition one of us. And we should treat them with all the respect that we treat any other American citizen.”

He warned that the bill could backfire electorally:

> “There’s something like 70,000 naturalized citizens in the state of Alabama, and a significant number of those are registered to vote. If they take offense at being relegated to second-class citizenship—and they should—and they hold the Republican Party accountable, that changes a lot of elections nationally and some elections in Alabama.”

And finally:

> “It’s wrong. It’s borderline evil, if not evil. I don’t know where their thinking caps were when the three of them huddled together and decided this would be a good thing to do. It baffles me. And it’s going to hurt them nationally in a big way.”

Christopher M Peeks

Reporter and Columnist

Alabama Political Contributor