When President Donald Trump posted a message on Thanksgiving, he took aim at Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota.

“…the worst ‘Congressman/woman’ in our Country, Ilhan Omar, always wrapped in her swaddling hijab, and who probably came into the U.S.A. illegally in that you are not allowed to marry your brother, does nothing but hatefully complain about our Country, its Constitution, and how ‘badly’ she is treated, when her place of origin is a decadent, backward, and crime ridden nation, which is essentially not even a country for lack of Government, Military, Police, schools, etc.,” Trump posted, in part.

Trump, that same day, would put out a call to “denaturalize migrants who undermine domestic tranquility, and deport any Foreign National who is a public charge, security risk, or non-compatible with Western Civilization.”

This raises the question: Could Trump deport Omar?

Trump also said he would remove anyone “incapable of loving our Country, end all Federal benefits and subsidies to noncitizens of our Country, denaturalize migrants who undermine domestic tranquility, and deport any Foreign National who is a public charge, security risk, or non-compatible with Western Civilization.”

For years, Omar has faced allegations that she entered the U.S. illegally by marrying her brother to aid in his own entry to America.

These rumors Omar has emphatically denied. “I have yet to legally divorce Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, but am in the process of doing so…. Insinuations that Ahmed Nur Said Elmi is my brother are absurd and offensive,” Omar stated, per MPR News.

Trump has pledged to permanently pause migration from “all Third World Countries,” as The Dallas Express reported. 

Trump’s statement comes the day after Afghan migrant Rahmanullah Lakanwal ambushed two West Virginia National Guard members near the White House on November 26, as The Dallas Express reported. At the time of publication, one of the victims – Spc. Sarah Beckstrom had died. The attack sparked cries for tighter immigration control.

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Omar is an American citizen; however, Trump’s promise to “denaturalize migrants who undermine domestic tranquility” questions whether this status is guaranteed for the congresswoman, who pledged in 2024 to “protect the interests of Somalia from within the U.S. system.”

The History

Omar was born in Mogadishu, Somalia, but moved to America when she and her family were granted asylum in 1995. They moved to Minneapolis in 1997, and Omar became an American citizen in 2000 at age 17.

Omar became a congresswoman in 2016.

She has a messy marriage history. For years, the congresswoman has denied allegations that an ex-husband was actually her brother, whom alledgely she married to ease his entry into the United States. 

Omar became engaged to Ahmed Hirsi in 2002, according to MinnPost. She said they never legally married, then split in 2008.

In 2009, Omar married British citizen Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, according to National Review. In 2012, Omar reportedly reunited with Hirsi. Years later, in 2017, she and Elmi divorced – at which point he returned to the U.K. Omar and Hirsi married in 2018, then they reportedly divorced in 2019. 

People have speculated for years that Omar married Elmi to ease his entry into America and that he was her brother, based on an old social media post that referred to him as the “uncle” of her child, per National Review, Yahoo!News. 

When The Minnesota Star Tribune investigated the claims in 2019, the paper “could neither conclusively confirm nor rebut the allegation that he [Elmi] is Omar’s sibling.” 

In 2020, the FBI investigated these claims – interviewing a person with knowledge of the case in Minnesota, and reviewing a trove of marriage documents between Omar and Elmi, according to National Review. No hard evidence had yet proven the theories as of 2021, though numerous documents cast doubt on Omar’s official story. 

In February this year, The Daily Mail interviewed a local Somali community leader who claimed Omar said she would “do what she had to do to get [Elmi] ‘papers’ to keep him in U.S.”

Omar would dismiss the claims on X on February 11, 2025:

When a video went viral that same month, showing Omar coaching Somalis on avoiding ICE, Republican Congressman Brandon Gill of Flower Mound expressed support for her deportation: 

In response, per the Daily Mail, Omar called Gill a “dumb*ss” – “How stupid you have to be to be a member of Congress and think your colleague who is a member of Congress can be deported?”

Is Deportation Possible?

Even if the government could prove Omar committed marriage fraud, deportation is highly unlikely.

Federal law does allow for the “denaturalization” of migrants, revoking their citizenship. However, this can only occur by judicial order, through civil proceedings, or by conviction for naturalization fraud. 

Denaturalization can happen on two major grounds, according to McBean Law: misrepresentation or concealment during naturalization, or illegal procurement of naturalization.

For the first ground – “misrepresentation or concealment” – federal officials must prove four key elements: the person misrepresented or concealed a fact, that this was willful, that this was material, and that “citizenship was obtained as a result.” Hypothetically, this could apply even if the misrepresentation was to help someone else obtain citizenship. 

Most public reports suggest Elmi remained an English citizen.

If Elmi hypothetically obtained American citizenship due to willful misrepresentation on Omar’s part, federal officials would first have to prove these four points before denaturalization. 

For the second ground – “illegal procurement of naturalization” – federal officials would have to prove Omar was never eligible to become a citizen in the first place. 

The person must fail to meet fundamental requirements, such as “continuous residence and physical presence” in America, lawful permanent resident status, good moral character, and attachment to Constitutional principles.

Federal law also allows denaturalization if someone joins an extremist group like a communist party, totalitarian regime, or terror organization within five years of citizenship. 

Even if federal officials can secure denaturalization, one’s citizenship status simply reverts to whatever it was before. Then, if the situation permits, authorities may begin deportation.

Trump’s ability to deport Omar is currently very unlikely, despite the details of her marriage remaining unclear.