Details of the investigation into the immigration papers of Ilhan Omar and her family to America

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Three informed sources said that a raid carried out by US federal authorities earlier this week on the home of Representative Ilhan Omar of the Democratic Party came as part of an expanded investigation into her immigration papers to the United States.

The investigation appears to focus on whether Ilhan, who was born in Somalia and has represented a Minnesota constituency since 2019, or her family members provided false information when they entered the United States as refugees in the mid-1990s or during the procedures for obtaining American citizenship.

One source said the secret memo authorizing the search early Monday cited conspiracy, making false statements on immigration papers, and immigration-related fraud as possible crimes under investigation. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity due to the discussion regarding an investigation that is still ongoing.

One of the sources familiar with the investigation told Reuters that one possible goal could be to strip Omar of her US citizenship and deport her, ideas raised by both President Donald Trump and the Secretary of Homeland Security.

The actions surrounding Omar, a left-leaning congresswoman who has long been targeted by Trump in personal and biased terms, have led to renewed concerns that the Trump administration may use federal law enforcement to punish his political opponents, especially three weeks before the midterm elections in which the representative is running to retain her seat.

The MP denied any wrongdoing, and described the raid as an act of "political intimidation."

The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the immigration enforcement agency, referred questions to the Justice Department. A spokesman for the Ministry of Justice declined to comment on the investigation into Ilhan Omar.

But the spokesman said in a statement that US citizenship “must be obtained legally and fairly,” and that the Trump administration will investigate any case in which the facts support withdrawal of citizenship, which is the legal procedure for revoking citizenship acquired after birth.

There has been no comment yet from Ilhan's spokesman.

Former immigration officials said that denaturalization investigations are historically rare, and it is very unusual for them to involve search warrants, as the government is supposed to already have the relevant immigration records.

It is not yet clear what evidence prosecutors presented to the federal judge who approved the raid.

A coalition of 14 news organizations, including Reuters, asked a federal judge on Thursday to declassify records related to the inspection.

Ilhan was 12 years old when her family arrived in the United States in 1995 after fleeing civil war in Somalia and spending years in a refugee camp in Kenya. She obtained American citizenship in 2000.

This background was a key factor in Omar’s political rise and her transformation into a constant target of criticism from her right-wing opponents.

Trump repeatedly attacked her ethnic origins, her Islamic religion, and the Somali community in Minnesota.

Any holder of US citizenship can lose it if a judge finds that it was obtained illegally or by intentionally concealing or misrepresenting material facts.