The long-standing accusations against Ilhan Omar — if that is her real name — have resurfaced in light of the recent raid on her home. In brief, they are that 1) she, her father, and her sister entered the United States under false identities, 2) she lied about her birth year to obtain naturalization via said father and 3) she subsequently married her brother to facilitate further immigration fraud. The feds are also apparently interested in whether Omar’s father, a Soviet-trained regimental commander in the Somali army, concealed information about his military service when entering the U.S. It certainly appears that, in the very least, he served as a field commander in the Somali army during its commission of the Isaaq genocide that left 200,000 civilians dead. (Putting her deep interest in the “Palestinian Genocide” in new context).
There is a real chance that the Trump DOJ will pursue denaturalization and deportation if they end up prosecuting the case. And I say: good.
Denaturalizations have been remarkably rare in the United States, and usually committing a crime while a naturalized citizen is not sufficient. But obtaining your citizenship through fraud has been. I looked up recent successful cases of denaturalization and here are the summaries:
- Vivian Chike Obichere (October 2026): Concealed fraudulent use of another person’s identity to obtain a U.S. passport before naturalizing.
- Milagros Acosta Torres (October,2026): Concealed involvement in a money-laundering conspiracy involving proceeds stolen from a Florida casino.
- Gurmeet Singh (August 2026): Concealed a rape and kidnapping committed before naturalization.
- Sead Miljkovic (July 2026): Naturalized using a false identity while subject to a Bosnian arrest warrant alleging war crimes against civilians.
- Gurdev Singh Sohal (April 2026): Naturalized under a false identity after concealing an earlier deportation order.
Representative “Ilhan Omar” certainly deserves the presumption of innocence and due process of law. But if the allegations at the top turn out to be true, then her crimes would warrant the same treatment. And yes, I am particularly disgusted by the possibility that Omar would do all these things, and then instead of keeping her head down and earning a simple living, enter high public office on a program premised on America’s numerous shortcomings, and use accusations racism, misogyny, and Islamophobia as cudgels against anyone who has questioned that program and/or her past.
How racist and Islamophobic can America be if it let you get away with all this?