Did Congress vote to deport Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), a naturalized citizen, as of February 28, 2025? No, that's not true: An immigration expert told Lead Stories that a naturalized citizen cannot be deported. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services writes that revocation of naturalized citizenship can only occur in federal court for limited circumstances "either by civil proceeding or pursuant to a criminal conviction." In other words, Congress makes immigration laws but has no unilateral power to deport naturalized citizens. As of this writing, there was no mention of Omar being deported in the Congressional Record or on her social media platforms.
This rumor appeared in a video (archived here) published on YouTube on February 27, 2025, titled and captioned:
FINALLY! Congress Has DECIDED To DEPORT Ilhan Omar to Somalia.
This is what the video looked like on YouTube at the time of this writing:
(Image source: YouTube.com screenshot taken on Fri Feb 28 13:55:20 UTC 2025)
Below is a live embed of the video on YouTube:
Congress cannot deport Omar, a naturalized citizen, "to Somalia."
According to her House.gov website, Omar was born in Somalia and came to the U.S. as a refugee in the 1990s. To be elected, a representative must a U.S. citizen for at least seven years and an inhabitant of the state they reside in, according to the House of Representatives.
Michelle Mittelstadt, director of communications at the Migration Policy Institute, told Lead Stories in an email on February 28, 2025, that "U.S. citizens, whether natural-born or naturalized, cannot be deported."
If a person is denaturalized, they are no longer a U.S. citizen and could face deportation.
Naturalization can only be revoked in a federal court
Constitution Annotated, an online analysis and interpretation of the U.S. Constitution, writes that by legal precedent, Congress has power over immigration laws.
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services writes that the "denaturalization" of a naturalized citizen can only occur in federal court for limited circumstances "either by civil proceeding or pursuant to a criminal conviction."
For civil revocation of naturalization, the United States Attorney's Office must file the revocation of naturalization actions in Federal District Court. For criminal revocation of naturalization, the U.S. Attorney's Office files criminal charges in Federal District Court.
The government holds a high burden of proof when attempting to revoke a person's naturalization. For civil revocation of naturalization, the burden of proof is clear, convincing, and unequivocal evidence which does not leave the issue in doubt. For criminal revocation of naturalization the burden of proof is the same as for every other criminal case, proof beyond a reasonable doubt.
USCIS refers cases for civil revocation of naturalization when there is sufficient evidence to establish that the person is subject to one of the grounds of revocation.
The general grounds for civil revocation of naturalization are:
Illegal procurement of naturalization; or
Concealment of a material fact or willful misrepresentation.
Another ground for revocation of naturalization exists in cases where the person naturalized under the military provisions. In those cases, the person may also be subject to revocation of naturalization if he or she is discharged under other than honorable conditions before serving honorably for five years.
These laws are reflected in U.S. law 8 USC 1451: Revocation of naturalization.
Omar was not deported as of February 28, 2025
The Congressional Record is "a daily account of the business conducted by each chamber and their committees." Lead Stories examined the entry published on February 27, 2025 - the date the video was posted - and determined that there was no mention of Omar having been deported.
Omar posted (archived here) to her X account multiple times on February 27, 2025, and did not mention the threat of deportation. Lead Stories contacted Omar's office for comment and will update this article if a response is received.
Republican representative pushing to deport Omar
The video was published on YouTube after Rep. Brandon Gill (R-Texas) called for the deportation of Omar back to her birth country of Somalia. On February 4, 2025, Gill wrote on X:
America would be a better place if @IlhanMN were deported back to Somalia.
In a follow-up post that same day, Gill wrote:
We should have never let Ilhan Omar into our country.
On February 11, 2025, Gill circulated a petition online calling for Omar's deportation. A petition, however, is not official or binding Congressional action.
Read more
Other Lead Stories fact checks involving Ilhan Omar can be read here.
