Trump Admin Probes Ilhan Omar’s Citizenship, Report Says Deportation Is A Goal

The Trump administration is investigating Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar with the aim of building a legal case to revoke her US citizenship and eventually deport her, The Wall Street Journal reported on October 14, citing US officials and people familiar with the probe.

The investigation centres partly on how Omar obtained citizenship after arriving in the US as a refugee from Somalia in 1995.

Probe Examines Immigration Records

Federal agents searched Omar’s Washington, DC, home on October 12 as part of an ongoing investigation, according to the US Department of Justice. Investigators seized her mobile phone, passport, notebooks and personal computers, according to people familiar with the search cited by the Journal. Authorities have also issued more than a dozen subpoenas, including to some of her relatives, seeking testimony before a federal grand jury in Minnesota.

The inquiry is examining whether Omar or her late father, Nur Omar Mohamed, misrepresented her age in immigration paperwork. Investigators are looking at whether she was recorded as 17 rather than 18 when her father applied for citizenship, which could have affected her eligibility to acquire citizenship through him as a minor. Omar became a US citizen in 2000. The Washington Post has also reported that investigators are examining claims concerning her father's immigration records.

Omar Denies Wrongdoing

Omar has denied committing immigration fraud. Her office said the investigation was an attempt to target one of the president’s political opponents, telling the Journal: “President Trump would love to eliminate one of the most effective progressive voices in Congress. There is no basis for this.” In a statement following the search of her home, Omar described the operation as an abuse of power and said she would not be silenced.

The investigation revives allegations that federal authorities examined during Joe Biden’s presidency but did not pursue because they lacked sufficient evidence, according to people familiar with the earlier inquiry cited by the Journal. The renewed probe comes weeks before the November 3 midterm elections, in which Omar is seeking re-election to represent Minnesota’s fifth congressional district. President Donald Trump and his allies have repeatedly criticised Omar, a prominent Somali-American lawmaker, and called for her deportation.

However, an investigation does not itself revoke citizenship. The Justice Department would have to bring a case in federal court and establish that Omar obtained citizenship through a material misrepresentation. Former Justice Department immigration official Leon Fresco told the Journal that prosecutors would face a difficult task, particularly if they could not establish that Omar herself had knowingly provided false information. No court ruling revoking her citizenship has been reported.