White House border czar Tom Homan said Saturday that Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., could be stripped of her citizenship and deported if federal investigators find she committed immigration fraud. He declined to discuss the evidence in the case, saying he did not have its specifics, and repeated his assertion that no one is above the law.
“Of course, if you lie during the naturalization process, there is a process to denaturalize somebody. We’ve done it before… And certainly, if the evidence points that way, that could happen,” Homan said on Fox News‘ “The Big Weekend Show.”
Homan described that outcome as conditional on the evidence. He did not announce any denaturalization or removal proceeding, and Fox News Digital’s report does not describe any charges filed against Omar.
“I’m not going to get ahead of the bureau or HSI, but I’ve been told they have a strong case, and we’ll let the evidence lead where it leads,” Homan said.
Asked whether investigators were examining anything beyond immigration fraud, he deferred to the FBI: “I know things, but that’s the question for FBI.”
The investigation centers on allegations that Omar or her father lied about her birth year on immigration paperwork when the family fled Somalia in the late 1990s. Her father became a U.S. citizen in 2000.
Omar was believed to be 17 at the time, which would have made her automatically eligible for citizenship as a minor alongside him. The allegation is that she was actually 18 and would have needed to go through the process on her own.
If that is the case, at the very last, she should be immediately removed from Congress.
Federal agents with Homeland Security Investigations searched Omar’s Washington, D.C., home early last Monday, according to a source familiar with the operation who spoke to Fox News Digital. Agents took her cellphone and other possessions.
Omar and other Democrats, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., have denounced the investigation as political persecution of one of President Donald Trump’s detractors, coming weeks before a critical election. Fox News has separately reported that former President Barack Obama backed Omar and accused the administration of targeting her.
Homan, for his part, said Omar “will be held to the same standards you and I are held [to]. If she violated the law, then she’ll be held accountable.”
Fox News Digital said it contacted Omar’s office for comment and did not immediately hear back.
