A senior official from the Trump administration indicated Saturday that Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar could face denaturalisation and deportation as part of an ongoing federal investigation into her immigration status. Tom Homan, who served as the administration’s immigration enforcement chief, stated on Fox News that the government could strip Omar of her citizenship if evidence supports such action.
This marked the first time a high-ranking Trump administration figure publicly referenced the possibility of revoking Omar’s citizenship and deporting her since federal agents conducted a search of the Minnesota congresswoman’s home on October 12. The raid drew widespread criticism, with Omar and her supporters accusing the administration of politically motivated tactics aimed at undermining a prominent Somali-American and vocal critic of the president.
The investigation focuses on whether Omar or her family committed any violations during her naturalisation process. It began mere weeks before the November 3 midterm elections, in which Omar was seeking re-election. When questioned about the potential for denaturalisation and deportation, Homan affirmed it was a possibility, emphasizing that while “a long, tedious process,” revoking citizenship has occurred in the past when falsehoods were found during naturalisation.
Homan also hinted that the inquiry might include other allegations against Omar but declined to provide specific details, deferring to ongoing FBI involvement.
Omar’s legal team condemned the investigation in a letter, accusing the Justice Department of potentially interfering in the election in violation of internal policies. The inquiry emerged within the context of an intensified crackdown on immigration under the Trump administration, which has aggressively pursued both undocumented individuals and increased scrutiny of legal migration processes.
Supporters of President Trump have promoted unverified claims that Omar fraudulently obtained her citizenship, including allegations that her former husband was in fact her sibling, whom she married to facilitate his legal residency. Omar and her representatives have categorically denied these accusations. They maintain that she fled Somalia’s civil war at age eight, lived in a Kenyan refugee camp, and arrived in the United States with her family in the 1990s before becoming a naturalised citizen in 2000.
Omar’s attorneys issued a statement asserting there is “no legitimate basis” to suggest any wrongdoing regarding her citizenship status. Following the search of her home, Omar took to social media to assert she was “ok” and described the investigation as a politically motivated effort to silence her. She accused Trump of launching a “campaign of political intimidation” through “baseless lies and smear campaigns,” and pledged not to be silenced.