The revocation of citizenship has historically been employed by authoritarian regimes as a method to silence dissent and suppress political opposition. Notable examples include the Soviet Union’s stripping of dissident author Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s citizenship in 1974, the Czechoslovakian government’s revocation of Milan Kundera’s citizenship in 1979, and similar actions by Communist East Germany and Romania. Authoritarian governments under Augusto Pinochet in Chile, Greece’s military dictatorship, Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, and more recently, Nicaragua, have also utilized citizenship revocation against critics.
In the United States, under the administration of former President Donald Trump, concerns have emerged regarding the use of denaturalization as a political tool. Federal agents recently searched the Washington, D.C., residence of Representative Ilhan Omar, a Somali-born Minnesota Democrat known for her progressive views and vocal criticism of the former president. The search was carried out as part of an investigation into Omar’s citizenship status and took place during the closing weeks of her re-election campaign. This action reportedly violated Department of Justice guidelines that generally restrict public investigative steps against candidates within 60 days of an election.
Representative Omar, a founding member of the progressive congressional group dubbed the “Squad” alongside Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, has been a frequent target of Trump’s public attacks. The former president has repeatedly made disparaging remarks about Omar, including racially charged insults related to her ethnicity and religion. He has called for her deportation, asserting in a January 2023 interview that she should be “immediately thrown out of Congress” and sent back to Somalia. When asked if she should lose her citizenship, Trump responded, “Oh, absolutely.”
Allies of the former president have alleged that Omar’s citizenship could be subject to revocation based on claims that her father misrepresented her age during her naturalization process more than 25 years ago—asserting that she was 17 rather than 18. While the veracity of this claim remains unclear, critics argue that the broader issue lies in the political use of law enforcement resources to target opponents.
Legal experts and observers note that this investigation aligns with a broader pattern under the Trump administration of weaponizing federal investigations against political adversaries. High-profile figures such as John Bolton, James Comey, and Gen. Mark Milley, among others, have reportedly faced scrutiny, while some allies of the former president have been pardoned or shielded despite allegations of criminal conduct.
The use of citizenship revocation against Omar evokes parallels with darker periods of U.S. history, such as the Red Scares, when government officials sought to strip citizenship from immigrants and labor leaders accused of radicalism. The practices of former officials like A. Mitchell Palmer and Joseph McCarthy were later widely condemned for undermining democratic principles.
Critics argue that reopening citizenship cases from decades past as a means to intimidate political opponents undermines the security and fairness afforded to naturalized citizens. They warn that such tactics, if left unchecked, threaten civil liberties and democratic norms. Calls have been made for an immediate end to the investigation of Representative Omar, highlighting the potential for misuse of government power in the political arena.