Ilhan Omar Could Face Denaturalization, Former Immigration Judge Says Fraud May Stop the Clock on Charges

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A former immigration judge is weighing in on the legal risks facing Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., as she faces two federal investigations, one into how her citizenship paperwork was completed and another into her financial disclosures. Nathan Hansen, an attorney with 23 years of experience who served four months as an immigration judge earlier this year after being appointed by then-Attorney General Pam Bondi, told Fox News Digital that Omar could face criminal charges if investigators find wrongdoing.

Hansen also took aim at one argument raised in Omar’s favor: that the statute of limitations has run out on any alleged fraud. “My view of that is generally that fraud stops any statute of limitations,” Hansen said, explaining that “if something isn’t disclosed or something’s hidden, then it would be unfair to the other party.” Omar has not been charged with any crime and denies wrongdoing.

Details & Background

Hansen said a criminal conviction would not by itself strip a naturalized citizen of citizenship. “That doesn’t automatically mean that they face denaturalization or anything like that,” he said. Denaturalization, he explained, “is another proceeding, which would be a civil proceeding brought by the Department of Justice,” and would be more likely if a conviction had a direct connection to how citizenship was obtained. “But I think it would be a discretionary matter within the people who are running the Justice Department,” he said.

Homeland Security Investigations agents searched Omar’s Washington, D.C., home on Oct. 12, reportedly seizing her phone, passport and computer, and Fox News confirmed that authorities possess her DNA. The immigration probe centers on how Omar or her late father completed her citizenship paperwork. A federal court filing last week referred to her as “Ilhan Nur Said Elmi, a/k/a Ilhan Abdullahi Omar,” and sources familiar with the investigation told Fox News that is her real name. A separate probe is examining her financial disclosures, which showed a sharp discrepancy one year apart. Omar has said she became a citizen at 17 through her father, who was naturalized in 2000.

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Hansen also spoke more broadly about strains on the immigration system. “Whether you want to call it fraud or whatever, it’s like an overwhelming of the system,” he said, “and the system is not being used in the way in which it was intended.” He said he saw asylum documents that were “clearly fake” and noted that Minnesota alone has 20,000 to 30,000 pending removal cases with no court date scheduled.

Omar’s office has rejected claims about her identity. “This is completely false. Ilhan Omar is her real name,” her spokesperson told Fox News Digital last week, and Omar has called the investigations politically motivated. White House border czar Tom Homan has said, “Of course, if you lie during the naturalization process, there is a process to denaturalize somebody.” Fox News’ report on Hansen’s analysis did not include a response from Omar’s office.

Why This Matters to You

Citizenship is the most valuable status the United States can grant, and the law allows the government to revoke it when it was obtained through fraud. Hansen’s view that concealed fraud can pause the statute of limitations matters because it means time alone may not protect someone who hid the truth. That principle applies to every naturalized citizen, not just one member of Congress.

Omar has not been charged, and no court has made any finding against her. But with two federal probes underway and the election days away, the legal questions surrounding her are not going away. How the Justice Department proceeds will show whether the same standards apply to the powerful as to everyone else.