Rep. Ilhan Omar’s immigration history is back in the spotlight after Homeland Security Investigations reportedly searched her Washington, D.C., home as part of a years-long federal investigation. The issue at the center is not a routine paperwork mix-up, unless routine paperwork now comes with agents carrying boxes out before breakfast. Investigators are reportedly examining immigration documents completed when Omar was a teenager, including paperwork prepared by her late father.
The search reportedly began around 6 a.m. and lasted more than four hours. Agents were seen carrying boxes of evidence from the home. A Department of Justice spokesperson said, “Today in the Washington, D.C., area, Homeland Security Investigations executed a judicially authorized search warrant secured by the Department of Justice . This enforcement action is part of an ongoing federal investigation,”
A judicial warrant is a serious legal step, not a press release dressed up in dramatic font. MS Now’s Ken Dilanian offered a surprisingly direct explanation of what the warrant means, saying “the Department of Homeland Security, which carried out the search, had to present evidence to a judge, suggesting that there was evidence of a crime at this location at Representative Omar’s home in Washington, D.C. or at least that there was probable cause to believe that there was such evidence.”
That admission does not establish guilt, and a search warrant is not a conviction. It does explain that investigators had to persuade a judge that evidence or probable cause existed before entering the home. Evidence and probable cause are not the same thing as a verdict, but they are considerably more substantial than online rumor and partisan shouting.
The reported investigation appears to be focused on whether Omar and her father lied on immigration paperwork when she was a minor. The source says the statute of limitations has already expired on the alleged marriage to her brother, leaving the immigration documents as the current focus of the inquiry. That is a serious allegation, but it remains an allegation while investigators continue their work.
A former immigration official previously told the New York Post that if Omar’s father lied on citizenship paperwork and she went along with it, it “would wipe her out from naturalization.” Another top immigration official told the Post, “If there’s enough evidence that she or [her father] lied on her immigration application to become a United States citizen, whether it was one time or several times, the Trump administration could initiate a denaturalization process that would strip her of her citizenship.”
DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin also previously said, “If we can prove that you shouldn’t have been here in the first place, we’ll deport you.” Border Czar Tom Homan reportedly suggested that Omar “lied or misrepresented” herself when becoming a citizen and that she can “absolutely” be naturalized if that is proven.
Dilanian said investigators are also trying to determine whether Omar, who claims she was born on October 4, 1982, was 18 when she obtained citizenship in 2000. The report says she was reportedly 17 at the time, while some theories suggest she was older. Under the theory described in the report, being over 18 could have made her too old for naturalization through her parents and could constitute fraud. Omar has said her birth certificate was lost or destroyed during unrest in Somalia.
A person familiar with the matter told CNBC, on condition of anonymity, that the investigation is complex and has been ongoing for years. Omar, who was born in Somalia and brought to the United States as a child, became a U.S. citizen in 2000. She was elected to Congress in November 2018 to represent Minnesota’s 5th District, and she and Rep. Rashida Tlaib became the first two Muslim women elected to Congress.
The source article also included video reports:
Nobody should confuse a search warrant with a verdict, and nobody should pretend a search warrant appears out of thin air. The proper answer is evidence, due process, and a public record, not partisan spin from either side. For a member of Congress, questions about citizenship paperwork are not trivial, and the reported raid has put those questions under an unusually bright spotlight.
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