Nancy Mace said ‘due process is for citizens.’ Here’s who it’s really for

In early June 2025, Republican U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina wrote an X post (archived) that read: “Due process is for citizens.”

Her comment had been viewed more than 2.4 million times as of this writing and had amassed more than 6,500 likes.

(X user @NancyMace)

In short, due process is the legal principle that the government must follow fair procedures before depriving a person of life, liberty or property. It serves as a safeguard against arbitrary actions by the state, ensuring that people are treated justly under the law. For a more detailed explanation, see our full breakdown in this article on former President Bill Clinton’s 1996 immigration law.

While Mace’s post did not explicitly say that due process protections are, or should be, limited to only U.S. citizens, her replies below the post reinforced that interpretation. However, the U.S. Constitution protects all “persons,” not just citizens, under the due-process clauses of the Fifth and 14th amendments. The Supreme Court has repeatedly affirmed that these protections apply to anyone physically present in the United States regardless of citizenship or immigration status.

An MSNBC article on the topic similarly concluded that Mace’s “implication … that noncitizens don’t get that protection” was “incorrect.”

Mace’s take on due process for noncitizens

The South Carolina representative doubled down on her stance in the replies below her post, suggesting that noncitizens should not be entitled to due-process protections in the U.S.

For example, when one X user wrote, “The Constitution doesn’t say ‘only citizens.’ Due process applies to persons — that includes non-citizens. That’s settled law,” Mace replied by saying: “Skip due process coming in, don’t expect it going out. Citizens first!”

Other replies further suggested she believed only U.S. citizens should be entitled to such protections (archived, archived, archived).

(X users @FJBIDEN_22 and @NancyMace)

These exchanges were not the first time Mace commented on due process. In late May 2025, she weighed in on the principle in response to a federal judge’s decision to block the deportation of eight noncitizens convicted of violent crimes.

The day before U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy issued a 17-page order in which he emphasized that “the Court recognizes that the class members at issue here have criminal histories. But that does not change due process,” Mace criticized the ruling, telling Fox News (archived): “They didn’t want due process on their way in illegally, they shouldn’t get due process on their way out.”

However, the representative’s comments about due process contradicted remarks she made about the principle in the past. In February 2023, Mace wrote on X (archived): “Everyone deserves the right to due process. Even those we vehemently oppose.”

(X user @NancyMace)

Snopes has reached out to Mace for comment on whether she maintains that due-process protections should apply only to U.S. citizens and how she reconciles that view with her 2023 statement. We will update this article if we receive a response.

Due process applies to everyone, not just citizens

The U.S. Constitution’s guarantee of due process appears in the Fifth and 14th amendments, both of which state that no person should be deprived “of life, liberty or property, without due process of law.” As shown, the language uses “person,” not “citizen,” with regard to due-process protections.

Further, the Supreme Court has repeatedly interpreted that due-process protections apply to everyone within U.S. borders regardless of citizenship or immigration status.

In Shaughnessy v. United States ex rel Mezei (1953) the Court emphasized (Page 212) that “aliens who have once passed through [U.S.] gates, even illegally, may be expelled only after proceedings conforming to traditional standards of fairness-encompassed in due process of law.” Similarly, in cases such as Zadvydas v. Davis (2001) and earlier decisions dating back more than a century, the Supreme Court made clear that the government cannot detain or deport people arbitrarily. In the 2001 case, the Court underscored that “the Due Process Clause applies to all persons within the United States, including aliens, whether their presence is lawful, unlawful, temporary, or permanent.”

In simple words, noncitizens must be given fair procedures, such as notice or a “credible fear interview,” before being deprived of their liberty. The Supreme Court expressed the same view in the case of Reno v. Flores (1993), stating: “It is well established that the Fifth Amendment entitles aliens to due process of law in deportation proceedings.”

This was not the first time Snopes addressed a claim regarding Mace. For instance, in late May 2025, we investigated a rumor that she ordered staffers to create burner accounts to promote her online. Meanwhile, earlier in June 2025, we also fact-checked a rumor about whether the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, signed by Clinton, allowed deportation without due process.