Republican representatives push the Justice Department to review Rep. Ilhan Omar’s citizenship as part of a wider probe into naturalized Americans, citing national security concerns and ideological disputes.
A new political storm is brewing in Washington. Two Republican lawmakers have called on the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the citizenship of Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, the Somali-born Democrat from Minnesota whose outspoken criticism of U.S. foreign policy has long made her a lightning rod in American politics.
The call, led by Rep. Randy Fine of Florida and backed by Rep. Andy Ogles of Tennessee, forms part of a broader campaign to review naturalized Americans who allegedly “violated citizenship laws.”
Fine named New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani as the first target, claiming both Mamdani and Omar should face scrutiny under what he described as “a national security review of loyalty.”
“Some people came to this country to destroy it,” Fine declared, urging the government to revoke citizenships “wrongly granted” and deport those found in violation.
Ogles echoed the sentiment, labeling Mamdani “a communist threat” and accusing Omar of advancing “anti-American narratives” through her criticism of U.S. foreign and military policies.
Omar, who fled Somalia’s civil war as a child and became one of the first two Muslim women elected to Congress in 2018, has often been at the center of right-wing backlash over her vocal opposition to U.S. military interventions and her advocacy for Palestinian rights.
Her office has not yet issued a statement on the latest demand, but allies see the push as a politically motivated attempt to silence dissenting voices in Washington.
The Justice Department has not commented on the request. Legal experts note that such investigations are rare and politically fraught, given constitutional protections for elected officials and the stringent process for revoking citizenship.
Still, the move reflects a growing hardline rhetoric within parts of the Republican Party—where debates over immigration, identity, and ideology are increasingly weaponized ahead of the next election cycle.
In a country built by immigrants, the targeting of a sitting congresswoman’s citizenship may mark a new flashpoint in America’s struggle over belonging and dissent.
