Federal agents are examining Rep. Ilhan Omar’s decades-old immigration paperwork in an investigation that could lead to citizenship revocation and deportation. She has not been charged.
Homeland Security Investigations agents searched Omar’s Washington-area residence on October 12, 2026, under a warrant listing possible conspiracy, immigration fraud and false statements. They seized her cellphone. Other accounts said computers, notebooks and her passport were also taken.
Prosecutors issued more than a dozen subpoenas, including to relatives. One of Omar’s sisters voluntarily spoke with federal agents, according to people familiar with the investigation.
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U.S. Magistrate Judge Matthew Sharbaugh of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia approved the warrant. He required prosecutors to screen out congressional legislative records protected by the Constitution’s Speech or Debate Clause.
Investigators are checking age records and her father’s immigration history
The inquiry centers in part on Omar’s arrival in the United States from Somalia in 1995, when she was approximately 12. She became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2000, reportedly at age 17, through her father’s naturalization.
Investigators are examining whether her birth date was misstated to make her eligible for citizenship as a minor. The allegations remain unsubstantiated.
Agents are also examining whether her late father, Nur Omar Mohamed, concealed or misrepresented military service while seeking legal status in the United States. The investigation reportedly has revived longstanding claims involving Omar’s former husband, Ahmed Nur Said Elmi.
Omar has rejected the allegation that Elmi was her brother, calling it “bigoted lies.” That claim is separate from the questions about her birth date and her father’s history.
The government would have to revoke citizenship before pursuing removal
The investigation could lead to criminal charges for alleged conspiracy, immigration fraud or false statements. Prosecutors could also bring a civil denaturalization case to try to revoke Omar’s citizenship.
A criminal denaturalization case could follow a conviction establishing that citizenship was illegally obtained. A court can also revoke citizenship if it finds that a person gained it through concealment or willful misrepresentation of material facts.
Removal would come only after citizenship is revoked. A naturalized citizen cannot simply be deported while still holding U.S. citizenship.
The distinction sets a legal sequence: the government would first need to establish grounds to strip citizenship, then pursue removal. The search alone does not revoke Omar’s status.
Omar calls the search intimidation as officials defend the inquiry
A Justice Department spokesperson said citizenship “must be obtained lawfully and honestly” and that the administration would investigate cases supporting denaturalization.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said there may have been “some illegal activity for them (Omar’s family) to come to the United States to begin with.” He also suggested deportation could be possible.
In September, Mullin said that if the government proved Omar “shouldn’t have been here in the first place,” it would deport her. Omar has denied wrongdoing and described the search as “political intimidation.”
Her office said President Donald Trump’s effort to strip her citizenship and deport her “has no basis in the law and has no precedent.” Trump has repeatedly attacked Omar publicly. On October 12, he called her “totally crooked” and said, “They cheat on everything.”
A previous review stopped before the current investigation
The current inquiry reportedly follows an earlier review that did not proceed because investigators lacked sufficient evidence. The Justice Department has not announced a denaturalization action.
Former DHS deputy general counsel Kerry Doyle said denaturalization investigations have historically been rare. Search warrants are especially unusual, she said, because the government generally already possesses immigration records.
Past cases generally involved “very serious international human rights violations” or crimes such as Nazi war crimes, Doyle said. Omar has represented a Minnesota congressional district since 2019 and is seeking reelection less than three weeks before the midterm election.
The timing has prompted concerns that federal law enforcement is being used against a political opponent. The current inquiry has not resulted in criminal charges against Omar.
