Border czar Tom Homan said on Oct. 17 that Rep. Ilhan Omar (D–Minn.) could be denaturalized if investigators find that she had lied when applying for U.S. citizenship.
Omar, a native of Somalia, moved to the United States with her family in the 1990s amid a civil war. She became a state representative in Minnesota in 2017, and a U.S. representative in 2019.
Federal agents searched the congresswoman’s home in Washington on Oct. 12 as part of a criminal probe into allegations of possible immigration fraud. Omar has strongly denied the allegations.
Homan said in an interview with Fox News on Oct. 17 that investigators have “a strong case” in their ongoing probe into Omar but declined to provide specific details.
“If she violated a law, then she’ll be held accountable. I don’t have the specifics of the evidence they have, line by line, but we’ll see where it leads,” he told the news outlet.
“I think they’re going to turn over every rock they got.”
When asked whether Omar could be stripped of her U.S. citizenship and deported, Homan said it was possible if the immigration fraud allegations against her were proven to be true.
“Of course, if you lie during the naturalization process, there is a process to denaturalize somebody. We’ve done it before. It’s a long, tedious process, but it’s been done before,” he said.
“And certainly, if the evidence points that way, that could happen.”
The Epoch Times reached out to Omar’s spokesperson for comment but did not receive a response by the time of publication.
Omar, 44, is seeking a fifth term as a member of the House of Representatives in the midterm elections on Nov. 3. Her district covers Minneapolis and some surrounding areas.
Her office on Oct. 12 denounced the raid as “an outrageous abuse of power” and accused the Trump administration of weaponizing federal law enforcement to target political enemies.
Few details have been released about the investigation. Before the action, Vice President JD Vance and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin had hinted at a possible inquiry targeting the Minnesota representative.
Last month, Mullin referenced an ongoing investigation into Omar and suggested that there may be possible fraud in her family’s immigration-related filings.
“Something’s going to happen,” he said in a post on X at the time.
Former President Barack Obama has defended Omar in a social media post, alleging that she was being targeted because of her criticism of President Donald Trump.
“The administration is actively trying to deport Congresswoman Omar, seemingly based solely on the unsubstantiated theory that she was actually 18 when her father was naturalized, and therefore is not a citizen,” Obama said on Oct. 18.
“Federal agents have raided her home, confiscated personal records, and seized her phone—all to try and uncover a nonexistent smoking gun from 20 years ago that will somehow make their case.”
Obama said Omar moved to the United States with her father at age 12. Her father became a naturalized U.S. citizen when Omar was 17, which automatically made her a naturalized citizen because she had not reached 18, he added.
The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.
Zachary Stieber and Jack Phillips contributed to this report.
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