Trump administration seeks to strip Ilhan Omar of US citizenship: WSJ

Investigators have subpoenaed relatives and examined immigration records, the newspaper reports.

US Representative Ilhan Omar, Democrat of Minnesota, speaks during a press conference with family members of slain Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in July 2022 [AFP]

The administration of US President Donald Trump is investigating Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar to revoke her citizenship and eventually deport her, The Wall Street Journal has reported, citing US officials and people familiar with the investigation.

The inquiry centres partly on how the Minnesota representative obtained citizenship after arriving in the US as a refugee from Somalia, the newspaper reported on Wednesday. Authorities are examining her family’s immigration records and have issued more than a dozen subpoenas, including to some of her relatives, seeking testimony before a grand jury in Minnesota.

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Omar’s office rejected the investigation as baseless in remarks to the Journal.

The Journal’s report comes just days after US federal agents raided the congresswoman’s home in what her office described as an “unprecedented escalation” by the Trump administration against its political opponents.

The search came just weeks before the November 3 midterm elections, a crucial vote for Republicans vying to retain control of Congress. Omar is seeking a fifth term representing Minnesota’s 5th congressional district.

The Department of Homeland Security said the raid was part of “an ongoing federal investigation”.

Agents took Omar’s passport, mobile phone, personal computers and notebooks, according to people familiar with the search, the newspaper said.

Omar arrived in the US in 1995 after living in a refugee camp in Kenya and became a citizen in 2000. She has previously denied committing immigration fraud.

At issue in the citizenship inquiry is whether Omar or her late father altered her age in immigration paperwork to indicate that she was 17 rather than 18 when her father applied for citizenship, the Journal reported.

According to the newspaper, investigators are examining whether that allowed her to acquire citizenship through her father rather than having to undergo a separate application process.

Omar’s father died in 2020, complicating efforts to collect evidence on whether Omar lied about her own age – which, according to a former top immigration official in the Justice Department, the Trump administration would hinge its case on – or whether her father lied on her behalf.

The Journal also reported that Homeland Security Investigations officials examined a similar allegation during the administration of former President Joe Biden but did not pursue it because they lacked evidence of fraud.

The newspaper did not report that anyone had filed a lawsuit seeking to revoke Omar’s citizenship. Such a case would require court proceedings, as the investigation itself does not revoke her citizenship or authorise her deportation.

The newspaper reported that a nonpartisan congressional watchdog had earlier cleared Omar of wrongdoing over disclosures that overstated her assets.

Agents from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), part of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), searched Omar’s home under what the department called a “judicially authorized search warrant”.

On Monday morning, agents blocked off the street around Omar’s home and removed boxes labelled “Seized Property Evidence”.

Omar, a prominent progressive Democrat, has faced years of attacks from Trump and his allies over her Somali background and immigration history.

Hours after the Monday raid, Trump told reporters he had “nothing to do” with the search, saying it was “really up to the DOJ [Justice Department]”.

据报纸报道，调查人员已传唤亲属并查阅了移民记录。

2022年7月，美国明尼苏达州民主党众议员伊尔汗·奥马尔在与遇害半岛电视台记者希琳·阿布·阿克勒的家人举行的新闻发布会上发表讲话。[法新社]

据《华尔街日报》报道，美国总统唐纳德·特朗普的政府正在调查民主党国会女议员伊尔汗·奥马尔，以撤销她的公民身份并最终将其驱逐出境。该报道援引了美国官员和熟悉调查的人士的话。

据该报周三报道，此次调查的部分重点在于这位明尼苏达州众议员在以索马里难民身份抵达美国后如何获得公民身份。当局正在审查她家人的移民记录，并已发出十几份传票，其中包括向她的一些亲属发出的传票，要求他们在明尼苏达州的大陪审团作证。

明尼苏达州美国初选须知（共3条，第1条）

名单2/3：袭击伊尔汗·奥马尔的嫌犯被判处一年以上监禁

3名美国议员呼吁以色列释放被监禁的医生胡萨姆·阿布·萨菲亚（Hussam Abu Safia）。

奥马尔的办公室在接受《华尔街日报》采访时驳斥了这项调查，称其毫无根据。

《华尔街日报》的报道发布几天前，美国联邦特工突袭了这位女议员的住所，她的办公室称这是特朗普政府针对其政治对手的“前所未有的升级行动”。

此次人事任命遴选距离11月3日的中期选举仅几周之遥，对于力图保住国会控制权的共和党人来说，这是一次至关重要的投票。奥马尔正在寻求连任，继续代表明尼苏达州第五选区。

美国国土安全部表示，此次突袭是“正在进行的联邦调查”的一部分。

据知情人士透露，搜查人员没收了奥马尔的护照、手机、个人电脑和笔记本电脑，报纸报道称。

奥马尔在肯尼亚难民营生活多年后，于 1995 年抵达美国，并于 2000 年成为美国公民。她此前否认犯有移民欺诈罪。

据《华尔街日报》报道，此次公民身份调查的焦点在于，奥马尔或她已故的父亲是否在移民文件中篡改了她的年龄，使她父亲申请公民身份时，她的年龄从18岁变为17岁。

据该报报道，调查人员正在调查这是否使她能够通过父亲获得公民身份，而无需单独申请。

奥马尔的父亲于 2020 年去世，这使得收集证据以确定奥马尔是否谎报了自己的年龄（据司法部一位前高级移民官员称，特朗普政府将以此为案件的关键）或她的父亲是否替她撒谎变得更加复杂。

《华尔街日报》还报道称，国土安全调查局官员在前总统乔·拜登执政期间也调查过类似的指控，但由于缺乏欺诈证据，因此没有继续调查。

该报并未报道有人提起诉讼要求撤销奥马尔的公民身份。此类案件需要通过法庭程序解决，因为调查本身并不撤销其公民身份或授权将其驱逐出境。

该报报道称，此前一个无党派的国会监督机构已经澄清，奥马尔在披露资产时夸大其资产一事上并无不当行为。

美国国土安全调查局 (HSI) 是美国移民和海关执法局 (ICE) 的一部分，该局的特工根据所谓的“司法授权搜查令”搜查了奥马尔的住所。

周一上午，执法人员封锁了奥马尔家周围的街道，并移走了标有“查获财产证据”的箱子。

奥马尔是一位杰出的进步派民主党人，多年来，她因其索马里背景和移民经历而遭到特朗普及其盟友的攻击。

周一突袭行动发生数小时后，特朗普告诉记者，他与此次搜查“没有任何关系”，并称这“完全取决于司法部”。