Can Trump Strip Ilhan Omar of Her Citizenship? Here's How the Process Works

Federal agents have sharply escalated their scrutiny of Minnesota Democrat Ilhan Omar, a House member facing reelection in a few weeks. Homeland Security Investigations searched her Washington, D. C. residence on Monday under a sealed warrant, and the Department of Justice then sent grand jury subpoenas on Tuesday to relatives, among them her sister Sahra Noor, The New York Times reports. Officials have released no details, but multiple outlets, relying on unnamed sources, say the focus is immigration paperwork her late father completed when she was a child.

Omar has long denied wrongdoing and calls the search intimidation. Vice President JD Vance said in March that the White House was weighing legal remedies, and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said last month that the inquiry continues. Trump and many Republican allies have repeatedly raised stripping her citizenship and deporting her.

Experts told Time that denaturalization is rare and hard. Justice Department lawyers must choose a civil or criminal case before a federal judge. Civil cases require clear, convincing evidence of illegality or willful misrepresentation of a material fact; criminal cases require proof beyond a reasonable doubt and carry a ten-year limit.

Summarized by PolitiKool from Time’s reporting. Read the full story at Time →