The Department of Justice is now encouraging its attorneys to go after naturalized citizens who have committed crimes by stripping them of their citizenship. And that puts Rep. Ilhan Omar directly in the crosshairs.
A memo issued on June 11 tells DOJ attorneys in the Civil Division to pursue denaturalization for immigrants who pose a threat to national security or obtained citizenship fraudulently by hiding past crimes,” The Hill reported.
But the memo goes even further.
It lists other qualifying offenses and allows attorneys to target individuals who are still facing charges, not just those who have already been convicted. That includes people with “pending criminal charges,” according to the document.
The memo recommends denaturalization for those “who pose a potential danger to national security, including those with a nexus to terrorism” or who “committed felonies that were not disclosed during the naturalization process” or made “material misrepresentations.”
It also makes clear that nothing is off the table. The Civil Division is free to take on “any other cases referred to the Civil Division that the Division determines to be sufficiently important to pursue.”
Joyce Vance, a former U.S. attorney and current law professor appointed by President Obama, slammed the policy in a blog post.
“The provision is so vague that it would permit the Division to denaturalize for just about anything. It could be something prior to or following naturalization. Given the other priorities discussed in the memo, it could be exercising First Amendment rights or encouraging diversity in hiring, now recast as fraud against the United States. Troublesome journalists who are naturalized citizens? Students? University professors? Infectious disease doctors who try to reveal the truth about epidemics? Lawyers?” she wrote.
“All are now vulnerable to the vagaries of an administration that has shown a preference for deporting people without due process and dealing with questions that come up after the fact and with a dismissive tone.”
President Trump and other Republicans have signaled support for the idea of deporting political opponents.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier recently said Rep. Omar should be deported for comments she made about President Trump’s military parade in Washington, D.C., The Hill reported.
“Denaturalize and Deport,” Uthmeier wrote in a repost of a clip from Democracy Now! that featured Omar.
In the clip, Omar said the United States “is turning into one of the worst countries on earth.”
“I grew up in a dictatorship, and I don’t even remember witnessing anything like that,” she said, referring to the parade.
“To have a democracy, a beacon of hope for the world to now be turned into one of the worst countries where the military are in our streets without any regard for people’s constitutional rights. While our president is spending millions of dollars propping himself up like a failed dictator with a military parade. It is really shocking,” she said.
Omar also noted the deployment of troops to Los Angeles to control protests occurred the same week as the parade, which celebrated the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army and took place on President Trump’s birthday and Flag Day.
Omar is not the only one facing calls for deportation or denaturalization.
When asked Tuesday if he would consider deporting Elon Musk for criticizing his “big, beautiful bill,” Trump said, “I don’t know. I think we’ll have to take a look. We might have to put DOGE on Elon. You know what DOGE is? DOGE is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon. Wouldn’t that be terrible,” referring to the Department of Government Efficiency, which Musk helped create.
Rep. Andy Ogles of Tennessee also called for stripping the citizenship of Zohran Mamdani, a progressive candidate who just won the Democratic primary for New York City mayor. Mamdani was born in Uganda.