The Trump administration is seeking to revoke the citizenship of Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar and deport her — a thing racist Republicans have spent years calling for, despite there being no evidence that Omar is in the country unlawfully — not because she’s guilty of anything, or because she’s not a U.S. citizen, or because she’s guilty of any kind of fraud, but because she’s a Muslim Black woman of Somali descent, and she’s a staunch critic of President Donald Trump.
And if this administration can do that to her, it can do it to anyone.
As we previously reported, on Monday, federal agents executed a search warrant on Omar’s Washington, DC, area home, as the administration claims she’s being investigated for possible fraud regarding her immigration paperwork. Homeland Security Investigations, the investigative arm of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), authorized and conducted the search.
Trump’s so-called border czar, Tom Homan, confirmed a federal criminal investigation involving Omar is ongoing. The Associated Press reported Thursday that “federal authorities seized her phone and have issued more than a dozen grand jury subpoenas, including to some of her relatives, according to a person briefed on the probe.” According to the New York Times, Omar’s sister, Sahra Noor, and at least one other family member received a subpoena.
According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, an insider familiar with the investigation confirmed that its aim is to build a case to justify stripping the elected congresswoman of her citizenship.
Here’s what the administration is alleging, via Al Jazeera:
At issue in the citizenship inquiry is whether Omar or her late father altered her age in immigration paperwork to indicate that she was 17 rather than 18 when her father applied for citizenship, the Journal reported.
According to the newspaper, investigators are examining whether that allowed her to acquire citizenship through her father rather than having to undergo a separate application process.
Omar’s father died in 2020, complicating efforts to collect evidence on whether Omar lied about her own age – which, according to a former top immigration official in the Justice Department, the Trump administration would hinge its case on – or whether her father lied on her behalf.
The Journal also reported that Homeland Security Investigations officials examined a similar allegation during the administration of former President Joe Biden but did not pursue it because they lacked evidence of fraud.
Source: ICE Investigators Seize Rep. Ilhan Omar’s Phone, Subpoena Her Relatives, As Racist Lawfare Continues
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