Ilhan Omar investigation seeks to denaturalize and deport congresswoman

The Trump administration’s criminal investigation into Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) is aimed at seeking to build a basis to strip the congresswoman of her U.S. citizenship and deport her, according to a new report. Omar has been the subject of government investigations for months. President Donald Trump said in January that the Department of Justice is investigating Omar over discrepancies in her financial records. Vice President JD Vance later revealed that the DOJ is also probing allegations that Omar participated in a sham marriage with her biological brother from Somalia so he could gain residency in the United States. Stay informed.Stay ahead. Join Washington Examiner for unlimited access to the news, analysis, and commentary that matter most. Already a member? Log in After federal investigators raided Omar’s home on Monday as part of an undetailed investigation that seized her cellphone, notebooks, personal computers, and passport, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that the Trump administration’s case is aimed at probing questions about how Omar obtained her citizenship in 2000 after the Somali-born congresswoman arrived in the U.S. decades ago. Officials are examining whether Omar or her father changed her age on her citizenship application to show she was 17 years old rather than 18 during the application process when Nur Omar Mohamed brought his daughter and other family members to the U.S. from a refugee camp, according to the outlet. If Omar was 17 at the time her father applied for citizenship, she would have qualified automatically rather than needing to pursue her own immigration process. Authorities have reportedly issued more than a dozen subpoenas, including to some of Omar’s relatives, and are examining her family’s immigration paperwork. The subpoenas went out to Omar’s sister, Sahra Noor, and at least one other member of her family, the New York Times reported on Tuesday. Omar has said she became a citizen at the age of 17, through her father’s naturalization. Omar’s 2022 congressional primary opponent, AJ Kern, obtained documents from a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services information officer in 2023 showing “no record” of Mohamed having been naturalized as a U.S. citizen, according to the New York Post. Omar this week decried the Trump administration’s investigations as a smear campaign. “Make no mistake: this is an attempt to target political enemies and weaponize federal law enforcement,” she said. “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.” The investigations have also drawn scrutiny from progressives. The Democracy Defenders Fund filed a Hatch Act complaint on Tuesday, arguing that the timing of the government’s raid on Omar’s home is troubling, as it took place days before early voting begins in her Minnesota reelection race. 2026 MIDTERM ELECTIONS LIVE UPDATES: LATEST NEWS, RESULTS, AND ANALYSIS “DOJ and DHS’s decision to instigate this raid at this very moment and for these alleged reasons is unexplainable — except for as a politically motivated use of power to influence the Minnesota congressional election in violation of the Hatch Act,” Norm Eisen, executive chairman and co-founder of the Democracy Defenders Fund, wrote in a letter. “A review of this matter is therefore immediately necessary.” The Washington Examiner reached out to the DOJ and the Department of Homeland Security for comment.