Can Trump strip Congresswoman Ilhan Omar of her US citizenship? What the investigation could mean and what could happen next?

A federal investigation into Congresswoman Ilhan Omar’s decades-old immigration records has raised questions about whether the Trump administration could try to revoke her US citizenship. Agents searched the Minnesota Democrat’s residence on Monday as part of a probe into possible immigration fraud and false statements on paperwork from the 1990s. Omar has denied wrongdoing and called the investigation political intimidation. The inputs are taken from The Washington Post and Reuters.

The case could lead to criminal charges or an attempt to strip her of citizenship, but investigators have not publicly established that she committed a crime.

Can Trump revoke Ilhan Omar’s US citizenship

A naturalized US citizen can lose citizenship if a court finds that it was obtained illegally or through the concealment or deliberate misrepresentation of important facts. However, the government must pursue a legal process to revoke citizenship. According to Reuters, the search warrant listed conspiracy, immigration fraud and false statements on immigration paperwork among the potential crimes being investigated. Three people familiar with the case told Reuters that investigators are examining whether Omar or her relatives provided false information when the family entered the United States or later became citizens.

One possible focus is whether Omar’s birth date was deliberately misstated. Investigators are reportedly examining whether she was eligible to gain citizenship through her father, Nur Omar Mohamed, when he became a naturalized citizen in 2000.

An official from the Trump administration also told The Washington Post that investigators had looked into whether Omar’s father had left out or changed facts about his military service. Mohamed died in 2020.

Omar arrived in the United States at the age of 12 with Omar’s family in 1995 after Omar had fled Somalia’s war and spent years in a refugee camp, in Kenya. Omar finally became a US citizen in 2000.

The congresswoman has repeatedly rejected allegations about her immigration history, which circulated widely in conservative media in 2019. In response to the latest investigation, she described the accusations as “baseless lies and smear campaigns.”

Why is the investigation drawing attention now

The timing has raised concerns because Omar is a sitting member of Congress and is running to retain her seat just weeks before an election. Reuters reported that federal agents searched her residence under a sealed warrant and seized her personal cellphone. Prosecutors also issued more than a dozen subpoenas, including to at least one relative, according to people familiar with the investigation.

The Washington Post separately reported that investigators had renewed their review of Omar’s immigration history earlier this year. A former immigration official said the agency had declined to pursue a similar investigation years ago.

Omar has accused the Trump administration of using federal law enforcement against political opponents. Trump has repeatedly criticized her and said in January that he believed she should lose her citizenship.

Former immigration officials have noted that denaturalization cases have historically been uncommon. Kerry Doyle, a former deputy general counsel at the Department of Homeland Security during the Biden administration, told Reuters: “Most of the denaturalization cases that we engaged in related either to very serious international human rights violations, or very serious crimes, such as Nazi war criminals."


The Justice Department has filed at least 164 denaturalization cases during Trump’s second term, according to figures cited in the reports. By comparison, an average of about 11 cases a year were opened between 1990 and 2017, according to the Immigrant Legal Resource Center.

What could happen next

The Justice Department could pursue criminal charges if investigators believe the evidence supports them. It could also bring a civil or criminal denaturalization case if it believes Omar obtained her citizenship unlawfully. Criminal denaturalization cases are subject to a 10-year statute of limitations, while civil cases are not subject to the same time limit.

However, an investigation does not establish guilt, and the allegations against Omar remain unproven. The Justice Department has not publicly confirmed what action it may take.



The probe has also raised questions about protections for members of Congress. Courts have ruled that authorities cannot review material related to lawmakers’ legislative activities, which is protected under the US Constitution. According to people familiar with the case, a judge ordered screening procedures to protect such records before approving the search.

Whether Omar could lose her citizenship depends on the evidence and any legal action the government chooses to pursue. No final decision has been announced. The inputs are taken from The Washington Post and Reuters.