Homan: Ilhan Omar Could Be Denaturalized and Deported if Immigration Fraud Is Proven, 'We've Done It Before'
The border czar told Fox's 'Big Weekend Show' that no one is above the law and that the evidence will decide. Omar denies wrongdoing and calls the probe a weaponization of federal law enforcement.
White House border czar Tom Homan said Saturday that Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., could lose her citizenship and be deported if investigators prove she committed immigration fraud.
Speaking on Fox News's "The Big Weekend Show," Homan was asked by co-host Tomi Lahren whether the case could involve denaturalizing and deporting Omar. "Of course, if you lie during the naturalization process, there is a process to denaturalize somebody," he said, as quoted by the New York Post. "We've done it before... And certainly, if the evidence points that way, that could happen."
He repeated that no one is above the law and said Omar will "be held to the same standards you and I are held. If she violated the law, then she'll be held accountable." The Post says he declined to discuss the specifics of the investigation, which followed the federal search of her Washington, D.C. home and the seizure of her cellphone. Other outlets covering the same interview, including Mediaite and Breitbart, report he also said he has been told investigators have a "strong case," while saying he does not have the evidence line by line.
What is known about the probe. The Wall Street Journal reported last week that investigators are examining how Omar obtained citizenship, including whether her late father changed her age on the application. Omar says she became a citizen at 17 through her father's naturalization. Omar has denied wrongdoing and called the search an abuse of power.
The limits. Homan is describing a possibility, not a finding. No charges have been announced in the material we read. FOX 9 Minneapolis, citing Congress.gov, notes that denaturalization is rare: fewer than 150 people had citizenship stripped between 1968 and 2013. Even a successful case would not automatically mean immediate deportation. Former President Obama has publicly defended Omar, and the White House has rejected claims of political targeting.
A note on our reading: only the opening of the Post's article was available to us, so details further down are not reflected here.