Denaturalization would require proving material lies in naturalization
Former President Barack Obama publicly joined the political defense of Rep. Ilhan Omar on Sunday, posting on X that the federal criminal investigation of the Minnesota Democrat is “so appalling” and has been brought against “a law-abiding elected official because she has dared to criticize the president.”
Obama framed the case as retaliation for the congresswoman’s criticism of President Donald Trump and warned that the precedent would not stop with her. “If this becomes the new normal,” he wrote, “there’s no reason to believe it will stop with her - or that future presidents, in either party, won’t do the same.”
The White House rejected Obama’s characterization in a statement to the BBC. Spokeswoman Lauren Bis said the Justice Department is independent and “focused on restoring law and order and keeping Americans safe,” adding that “Unlike Joe Biden, President Trump has not weaponized the Department of Justice against his political foes.”
The investigation came into public view about a week ago, when agents with the Department of Homeland Security searched Omar’s Washington, D.C. home. Born in Somalia, Omar moved to the United States as a child in 1995. U.S. media outlets have reported that the probe centers on her citizenship and whether she misrepresented her age when she arrived.
Obama wrote that her father became a naturalized U.S. citizen when she was 17, before she was legally an adult, a status that then conferred citizenship on her. “Now the Administration is actively trying to deport Congresswoman Omar, seemingly based solely on the unsubstantiated theory that she was actually 18 when her father was naturalized, and therefore is not a citizen,” he wrote.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services guidance, as described by the BBC, says a child born outside the United States automatically becomes a citizen when at least one parent is a U.S. citizen by birth or naturalization and the child is under 18 and lives in the legal custody of that parent.
Omar has said Trump targeted her for years with “baseless lies and smear campaigns” and described the investigation as “the latest escalation in his campaign of political intimidation.” Trump, who previously characterized federal investigations into his own conduct as politically motivated, said the inquiry into Omar “had nothing to do” with him, while calling her a “terrible person” and a “complainer.”
Federal agents reportedly seized Omar’s phone, computers, notebooks and passport during the search. Her lawyers have demanded the government return her belongings, writing in a Friday letter reported by CBS News — the BBC’s U.S. partner — that the seizure violated protections a judge had imposed to safeguard her work as a lawmaker. The lawyers also alleged, according to CBS, that agents did not notify Omar or the House of Representatives general counsel about the search beforehand and kept her from contacting her attorney for more than an hour.
The investigation could lead the Justice Department to seek to “denaturalize” Omar, or revoke her citizenship — a step that would require proving there were material lies in her naturalization process. Democrats have characterized the raid as the president attempting to interfere with the legislative branch; Republicans have said Omar should be treated the same as anyone else under the law.
In 2023, Republicans removed Omar from the House Foreign Affairs Committee over comments she made about Israel that drew bipartisan criticism.
The BBC noted that when Obama first ran for president and throughout his two terms, Trump repeatedly questioned Obama’s citizenship, asserting he was not born on American soil. Obama released two records proving he was born in Hawaii. Obama did not raise that history in his Sunday post.