Trump Administration Seeks Case to Revoke Ilhan Omar’s Citizenship

The Trump administration is investigating Rep. Ilhan Omar’s immigration history in an effort to build a case to revoke her U.S. citizenship and ultimately deport her, according to U.S. officials and people familiar with the inquiry.

The investigation focuses partly on how the Minnesota Democrat obtained citizenship after arriving in the United States from Somalia decades ago. Investigators are examining both Omar’s immigration records and actions taken by her deceased father, who brought the family to the United States from a refugee camp in Kenya in 1995.

Omar denies committing immigration fraud. Her office has rejected the investigation as unfounded and accused President Donald Trump’s administration of targeting a prominent political opponent.

Federal agents searched Omar’s Washington-area home on Monday, October 12. The Justice Department confirmed that Homeland Security investigators executed a court-authorized search warrant as part of an ongoing criminal investigation but did not disclose its full scope.

Authorities seized Omar’s phone and issued more than a dozen grand jury subpoenas, including to some of her relatives, according to people familiar with the proceedings. A grand jury in Minnesota is gathering evidence concerning potential fraud in the family’s immigration paperwork.

One issue under examination is whether Omar or her father provided an inaccurate age during the citizenship process. Investigators are reportedly examining whether she was under 18 when her father became a citizen in 2000, a question relevant to whether she qualified for citizenship through him.

The allegations remain unproven. A search warrant and grand jury subpoenas are investigative steps and do not establish that Omar committed a crime.

The search took place weeks before the midterm elections, in which Omar is seeking reelection. House Democratic leaders condemned the operation and questioned whether the administration was using federal law enforcement against one of Trump’s longstanding critics.

Omar has described the allegations as “baseless lies and smear campaigns” and said she would not be silenced.

The reported objective of revoking her citizenship would require further legal proceedings. The investigation itself does not change her citizenship status, and its outcome remains unresolved.