The Trump administration is building a case to strip Rep. Ilhan Omar of her American citizenship and ultimately deport her, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing US officials and people familiar with the probe — a stunning escalation days after federal agents raided the Minnesota Democrat's Washington home. No sitting member of Congress has been denaturalized in the modern era.
The Journal's report, published on 14 October and corroborated by reporting from Reuters, says investigators are examining whether Omar or her late father misrepresented her age on immigration paperwork decades ago — potentially allowing her to obtain citizenship automatically through her father's naturalization rather than through a separate application.
The raid that started it
Early on Monday 12 October, agents with Homeland Security Investigations — the criminal investigative arm of Immigration and Customs Enforcement — executed a federal search warrant at Omar's Washington-area bungalow. They seized her personal cellphone, notebooks, personal computers and her passport, and carried boxes of evidence from the home, according to the New York Post. The Justice Department confirmed the operation was judicially authorized and part of an ongoing criminal investigation. Federal prosecutors also issued more than a dozen grand jury subpoenas, including to at least one of Omar's relatives, Reuters reported.
The search was striking for its timing: it came just over three weeks before Election Day, when Omar is seeking a fifth term. Federal investigators have historically avoided aggressive enforcement actions against candidates within 60 days of an election, Fox9 noted.
Omar, who arrived in the United States as a refugee from Somalia in 1995 and says she became a citizen at 17 when her father was naturalized in 2000, has denied wrongdoing. She called the raid "an outrageous abuse of power" and "political harassment" by the administration. In a video response she said: "Well, the difference between the president and I is that I was raised to be a decent human being and to have compassion, and he lacks both of those things," Arab News reported. A day after the raid, President Trump said: "I think she's a terrible person. I think she's a terrible congresswoman. I don't think she loves our country at all."
An extraordinary legal path
If the government can prove that Omar's citizenship was "procured by the concealment of a material fact or by willful misrepresentation," the Justice Department could pursue denaturalization — the legal revocation of citizenship granted after birth. Legal experts stress how rare and difficult that path is. Former immigration officials note that denaturalization cases have historically been reserved for serious cases, such as Nazi war criminals, and it is highly unusual for such investigations to involve search warrants, since the government typically already holds the immigration records in question, Reuters reported.
The burden would rest entirely on the government, Twin Cities immigration attorney Ana Pottratz Acosta told Fox9: prosecutors would need to prove that Omar — a child when she was naturalized — or her father, who died in 2020, committed fraud in the process.
Criminal prosecution faces an additional hurdle: the statute of limitations. Criminal charges for immigration fraud generally must be brought within ten years, while false-statement charges face a five-year limit. Civil denaturalization, however, carries no such time limit — and the Trump administration has filed nearly 200 civil denaturalization cases since January 2025, a record pace compared with roughly a dozen or fewer such cases a year in prior administrations, per the New York Post.
Transparency fight and political stakes
The case is also testing transparency norms. A coalition of 14 news organizations, including Reuters, asked a federal judge on Thursday to unseal records related to the search warrant — an effort to force the Justice Department to show what evidence justified the raid.
Omar's defenders and critics alike frame the fight in political terms. The administration has openly telegraphed its interest in Omar for months — in March, Vice President JD Vance said officials were evaluating options to "go after" her, and in May he confirmed the DOJ had opened an investigation. Her case is now the most visible front in the administration's record-breaking denaturalization campaign, and one that could redefine the legal boundaries around a sitting member of Congress.
See also our earlier coverage: the raid on Omar's Washington home and the broader DOJ denaturalization drive.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Trump administration accused of doing to Ilhan Omar?
The Wall Street Journal reported on 14 October that the administration is building a case to strip Rep. Ilhan Omar of her US citizenship and ultimately deport her, following a federal raid on her Washington home and more than a dozen grand jury subpoenas.
What is denaturalization?
Denaturalization is the legal process of revoking citizenship that was acquired after birth, if the government can prove it was obtained through fraud or willful misrepresentation. Civil denaturalization has no statute of limitations.
Has any sitting member of Congress ever been denaturalized?
No. Legal experts say no sitting member of Congress has been stripped of citizenship in the modern era, and denaturalization cases have historically been rare.
Why is the investigation's timing controversial?
The raid came just over three weeks before Election Day, when Omar seeks a fifth term. Federal investigators have historically avoided such actions against political candidates within 60 days of an election.
What has Omar said in response?
Omar has denied wrongdoing, calling the search "an outrageous abuse of power" and "political harassment," and accused the administration of weaponizing federal law enforcement against political enemies.
