Department of Homeland Security agents raided Democrat Rep. Ilhan Omar’s home in Washington, D.C. early last week as part of an ongoing investigation that could lead to an attempt to strip the Minnesota Democrat of her U.S. citizenship – a significant escalation in President Donald Trump’s years-long campaign against the Somali-born congresswoman.
The investigation comes as the Trump administration has launched the largest denaturalization effort in history. This unprecedented, aggressive sweep included the Justice Department filing to revoke citizenship for 40 immigrants accused of fraud and other unlawful acts.
Significance. Before dawn last Monday morning, the DHS officials searched Omar’s house as part of an investigation into allegations that she or members of her family had falsified immigration documents.
Omar, who immigrated to the United States from Somalia and became a naturalized citizen at 17 years old, said in a recent interview that over the course of four to five hours, approximately 25 DHS agents combed through her belongings. They seized 17 items, including her personal cellphone, her youngest daughter’s phone and notebooks that belonged to her husband.
She said the raid was “designed” to intimidate her and her family, who were in the home sleeping at the time of the search.
“You don’t show up to somebody’s house that early in the morning unless you’re trying to freak them out. And you know it obviously did freak all of us out,” Omar said in an interview with MS Now.
Overlooked angle. Earlier this month, the Department of Justice announced that it had filed 40 cases seeking to revoke the citizenship of immigrants who had previously become naturalized Americans. The agency claims the individuals obtained citizenship through fraud or other illegal means. The cases involve allegations of espionage to sexual offenses against minors.
“Every single one of these individuals lied their way into U.S. citizenship,” Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division said in a statement. “This administration will continue to pursue the largest denaturalization effort in department history to restore trust and integrity in U.S. citizenship. Our message is clear: the United States will not tolerate deception in the naturalization process.”
Power structure. Since returning to office, Trump has ramped up efforts to dismantle both legal and illegal immigration to the U.S. His agencies’ immigration enforcement efforts have swept up immigrants without documentation who have not committed violent crimes and targeted naturalized U.S. citizens to revoke their citizenship. government agencies for his white nationalist agenda to
On the first day back, Trump signed an executive order entitled, “Protecting the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats,” that prioritized dedicating government resources to investigating immigrants whose citizenship they feel should be revoked.
In April, the Justice Department identified 384 potential denaturalization cases to investigate.
Denaturalization is a legal process that provides a pathway for the federal government, through court proceedings, to revoke citizenship obtained through fraud or illegal means. Certain criminal convictions can result in the loss of citizenship.
What experts say. The Trump administration’s denaturalization crusade of potentially hundreds of denaturalization cases is a stark contrast to the fewer than 150 people who were denaturalized in total between 1967 and 2017, according to the Migration Policy Institute.
Historically, denaturalization was used very sparingly and was largely used for major national security threats, including those guilty ofNazi persecution. From 1990 to 2017, there was a yearly average of 11 denaturalization cases filed.
