Deportation threat against Ilhan Omar escalated by Trump’s border czar after claims she ‘married her brother’
Donald Trump's border tsar, Tom Homan, has confirmed that Democratic congresswoman Ilhan Omar is under investigation by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and could potentially face deportation, following earlier claims from Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin. The development marks a significant escalation, as senior US officials are openly discussing an active federal investigation into a sitting member of Congress over alleged immigration fraud, with Homan suggesting even denaturalisation could be on the table.
Mullin had alleged that Omar, who was born in Somalia, "married her brother" in order to bring him into the United States, a claim referring to her second husband, Ahmed Elmi, who reportedly now lives in London. Omar allegedly remained married to her first husband, Ahmed Hirsi, at the time, though she has long denied any wrongdoing and has since married a third time, to political consultant Tim Mynett. Homan told Fox News that denaturalisation is a "very serious process" but achievable where fraud or misrepresentation can be proven, though the case faces complications given Omar became a naturalised US citizen in 2000 at the age of 17.
- ICE is investigating Ilhan Omar over alleged immigration/marriage fraud
- Officials claim she married her brother to bring him to the US
- Omar denies wrongdoing; denaturalisation and deportation floated as options
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Rep Ilhan Omar, a Democrat who represents part of Minnesota, was born in Somalia and became a naturalised US citizen in 2000. She has been a prominent and often controversial figure in Congress, and has previously clashed with Donald Trump and his allies. The current row centres on claims about her past marriages: Omar has been married three times, and questions have long circulated online about whether her second marriage, to a man reportedly now living in London, was connected to her first husband in a way that critics allege was used to help him gain entry to the US.
The key figures pushing this claim now hold senior roles in the Trump administration. Tom Homan is Trump's "border czar", responsible for immigration enforcement policy, while Markwayne Mullin is the Homeland Security Secretary. Their public comments matter because they are not just repeating an old rumour, but confirming that a federal agency, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), is formally looking into the allegations against a sitting member of Congress.
This matters because it raises the possibility of denaturalisation, a legal process that can strip a naturalised citizen of their citizenship if fraud in the naturalisation process can be proven, potentially opening the door to deportation. Such action against an elected member of Congress would be highly unusual, and critics may see it as politically motivated given Omar's frequent disputes with Trump, while supporters of the investigation argue any credible fraud allegation deserves scrutiny.