Ultimate Aim Of Ilhan Omar Probe Is To Strip Her Citizenship And Deport Her
The federal investigation into Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) seeks to build a case to revoke her U.S. citizenship and ultimately deport her, according to The Wall Street Journal, which cited U.S. officials and other people familiar with the probe.
The Journal reported Wednesday that investigators are examining how Omar obtained U.S. citizenship after arriving from Somalia decades ago. Investigators are looking into both the congresswoman and the actions of her late father, according to the outlet. Omar arrived in the United States as a refugee in 1995 and became a U.S. citizen in 2000.
The immigration investigation centers on whether Omar or her father changed her age on citizenship paperwork to show she was 17 rather than 18, the Journal reported. Her age would have affected whether she qualified for citizenship through her father or needed to pursue it separately.
Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) officials examined a similar tip during the Biden administration but declined to move forward due to a lack of evidence of fraud, according to the Journal.
According to NewsNation, prosecutors have issued more than 15 subpoenas, including subpoenas to Omar’s relatives. The outlet cited a source familiar with the investigation. Federal agents also seized Omar’s phone during a search of her Washington, D.C., residence on Monday.
In addition to the cellphone, authorities seized notebooks, personal computers, and Omar’s passport, the Journal reported. The outlet said the congresswoman and her husband were home during the raid.
“President Trump would love to eliminate one of the most effective progressive voices in Congress. There is no basis for this,” Omar’s office said in a statement Wednesday, the Journal reported.
HSI agents conducted the search, The Daily Wire previously reported. U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro said Tuesday that “there are several investigations going on,” including one involving Omar’s financial disclosures.
Following the search, Omar, a prominent member of the leftist congressional group known as “the Squad,” accused the Trump administration of weaponizing federal law enforcement to pursue a political prosecution.
“I’m ok. Make no mistake: this is an attempt to target political enemies and weaponize federal law enforcement,” Omar wrote on X. “For ten years, Trump has targeted me with baseless lies and smear campaigns. This is just the latest escalation in his campaign of political intimidation.”
“I will not be silenced,” she added.
In an analysis of potential avenues for the investigation, The Daily Wire’s Luke Rosiak outlined several areas of scrutiny, including her father’s immigration history, her own statements about obtaining citizenship, her husband’s work promising “legislation” for African clients, her financial disclosures, and potential connections between her sister and figures involved in the Feeding Our Future scandal. The analysis did not establish that investigators were pursuing all five avenues.
Rosiak reported that Omar’s father was part of Somalia’s communist regime, rather than someone fleeing it. He also raised the possibility that fraud in obtaining Omar’s citizenship could expose her to denaturalization proceedings.
Omar’s marital history has also drawn scrutiny. In 2009, she married Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, a British citizen whom some critics have alleged is her biological brother. The couple reportedly separated in 2011. Their divorce was finalized in 2017.
Her third husband, Tim Mynett, dismissed concerns about the investigation in comments to Fox News.
“My wife came here when she was 12 years old as a child war refugee,” Mynett told the outlet. “No concerns.”
President Donald Trump declined Tuesday to endorse calls to deport Omar, despite previously advocating for her removal from the country. At an Arizona rally Wednesday, however, Trump mocked Omar’s Somali roots and contrasted her with his supporters, whom he portrayed as more humble.
“You’re not the people that demand everything like Ilhan Omar, who comes in from a ninth-rate country. It’s not even third-rate, ninth-rate. They have no government, they have no military; all they have is crime and anguish,” Trump said. “They go around shooting each other.”
Omar was first elected to Congress in 2018.
