President Donald Trump has said Rep. Ilhan Omar should be jailed or deported to Somalia, as the federal investigation into the Minnesota Democrat's immigration history closes in around her. Asked about the probe, Trump made clear where he stands while insisting the case itself is not his: "I understand that they're looking at her very carefully. I've always found her to be totally crooked, personally, but that has nothing to do with me." He added: "I think she's a terrible person, but that's really up to the DOJ, I have nothing to do with it."
The investigation has moved fast. Homeland Security Investigations agents searched Omar's Washington, D.C., home under a court-approved warrant and seized her cellphone, and more than a dozen grand jury subpoenas have gone out, including to her brother and sister. The probe reportedly examines allegations that Omar or her father misrepresented her birth year on immigration paperwork decades ago — the same investigation in which two judges, including a staunch Democrat, have signed off on evidence requests from the Justice Department and Homeland Security.
Border czar Tom Homan raised the stakes on Monday, saying that if investigators prove immigration fraud, Omar could be stripped of her U.S. citizenship and deported — held, he said, to exactly the same standard as anyone else. Homan said he had been told investigators have a strong case.
Omar has not been charged with any crime. She denies the allegations and calls the investigation politically motivated, and former President Barack Obama accused the administration of raiding her home to hunt for what he called a nonexistent smoking gun from 20 years ago.
Omar was born in Somalia, arrived in the United States with her family in 1995 after fleeing the civil war, and became a U.S. citizen in 2000. Stripping that citizenship would require the government to prove fraud in court — and the fight is now landing just weeks before the November 3 midterms.