President Donald Trump's Border Czar, Tom Homan, has confirmed that Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar is under investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and could face denaturalization. Homan's comments follow claims made by Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin that Omar, born in Somalia, "married her brother" to gain U.S. residency.
Speaking on Fox News' The Sunday Briefing, Homan affirmed that an investigation is underway, stating, "I know things are going on, but I can't give specifics of what's happening. But we'll see." When pressed by host Jacqui Heinrich if ICE was investigating Omar, Homan responded, "I'm confirming that ICE is, yes, like I said months ago, that is something that's been reported and needs to be looked at."
Homan elaborated on the possibility of denaturalization, explaining that individuals can lose citizenship if they committed fraud or lied during the application process. "If someone committed marriage fraud or anything like that, regardless if they're a congressman or not, no one's above the law," Homan said. "But denaturalization is a process, it's a very serious process. So if someone lies through that process to becoming a citizen, and we can prove they in fact lied or misrepresented themselves, we can absolutely denaturalize them. We've done it before, many times over the last 40 years I've been around so it's a process."
Mullin had previously told podcaster Benny Johnson that Omar "married her brother to try to bring him into the United States" and that he "lives now in London." This refers to Ahmed Elmi, the man Omar married for a second time, according to previous reports. The congresswoman has long denied allegations of marriage fraud. She was reportedly still married to her first husband, Ahmed Hirsi, at the time of her marriage to Elmi. Omar has since remarried a third time to political consultant Tim Mynett.
Mullin indicated that Omar's actions constituted "possible illegal activity" and that the investigation was "ongoing." He further stated that if the investigation proves Omar should not have been in the U.S. in the first place, she could be deported. Omar became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2000 at the age of 17.