Trump Denaturalization Push Fuels Grand-Jury Subpoenas in Omar Probe

Federal agents searched Rep. Ilhan Omar’s Washington, D.C.-area home on October 12, 2026, as the Trump administration investigates whether it could revoke her citizenship and seek her deportation. Authorities have also issued more than a dozen grand-jury subpoenas connected to the inquiry. No court has revoked her citizenship.

Agents acted under a court-authorized warrant. They reportedly took her passport, cellphone, personal computers, notebooks and other materials.

The subpoenas seek testimony and immigration records before a Minnesota grand jury. Some went to members of Omar’s family.

The Justice Department has not charged her with a crime, and no denaturalization lawsuit had been publicly filed as of October 15, 2026. The Department of Homeland Security called the search part of an “ongoing federal investigation.”

Investigators are testing whether an age entry changed her citizenship path

Investigators are examining whether Omar or her late father, Nur Omar Mohamed, gave an incorrect age in immigration paperwork. The inquiry focuses on whether records listed her as 17 instead of 18.

That age distinction could have affected how she acquired citizenship. Investigators are examining whether the paperwork could have allowed her to become a citizen automatically through her father, rather than through a separate immigration and naturalization process. The inquiry has not resulted in a public criminal charge.

Omar, now 44, was born in Somalia and fled with her family during the Somali civil war. The family spent several years in a refugee camp in Kenya before arriving in the United States in 1995.

She became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2000 and won election to Congress in November 2018. The current inquiry concerns whether her immigration documents accurately recorded her age.

Omar denies fraud and calls the inquiry political

Omar has denied immigration fraud. Her office said President Trump wants to remove a prominent progressive voice from Congress and rejected the allegations:

“President Trump would love to eliminate one of the most effective progressive voices in Congress. There is no basis for this.”

She has also described the search and investigation as “political harassment” and “political intimidation.” The administration has not brought a criminal charge against her.

A federal court case would have to come before any loss of citizenship

The administration cannot cancel Omar’s citizenship through an executive order or the investigation alone. The Justice Department would need to bring a civil or criminal case in federal court and prove that she obtained naturalization unlawfully or through a material, willful misrepresentation.

In a civil case, the government must establish by clear, convincing, and unequivocal evidence that citizenship was obtained illegally or through a material misrepresentation. A criminal case requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt. Those are different legal standards, but both require a court proceeding.

Even a court order revoking citizenship would not itself deport Omar. The Department of Homeland Security would still have to begin separate removal proceedings.

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, said “a case of this magnitude would take years to wend its way through the courts.” The investigation has not yet reached that stage.

The inquiry follows Trump’s broader effort to expand denaturalization cases

President Donald Trump has repeatedly called for Omar’s deportation. Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin have also publicly raised allegations about her immigration history.

Mullin said in September: “If we can prove it, that you shouldn’t have been here in the first place, we’ll deport you.” His statement described a possible outcome if the administration could prove its allegations; it did not itself change Omar’s citizenship status.

The Justice Department has reportedly filed more than 200 lawsuits seeking to denaturalize convicted criminals and others. The administration has pursued a broader target of at least 250 cases by October.

If the government files a case against Omar, it would rank among the highest-profile denaturalization actions pursued by the administration. For now, the inquiry remains an investigation, with the next legal step dependent on whether the Justice Department brings a case in federal court.