President Donald Trump said Tuesday that Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., could face jail time in addition to deportation as she remains under federal investigation over allegations involving her citizenship, calling her “a disgrace to our country.”
Trump made the remarks in the Oval Office during an unrelated event announcing a fraud incentive program, after FOX Business correspondent Edward Lawrence asked whether a dispute over Omar’s age could lead to her deportation.
“Well, she could be. She could also go to jail,” Trump said. “You know, they keep talking about deportation. No, she could go to jail.”
The president did not cite a specific criminal charge or present new evidence during the exchange. “This is just my opinion,” he added, describing Omar as “a very dishonest person” who “hates our country.”
Trump’s comments follow remarks from border czar Tom Homan, who said Omar could lose her citizenship and be deported if investigators prove immigration fraud. Federal agents searched her Washington, D.C., home on Oct. 12 and seized her cellphone and other possessions.
The investigation concerns allegations that Omar or her father misrepresented her birth year on immigration paperwork. At issue is whether she was still a minor when her father became a U.S. citizen in 2000 — which would have let her gain citizenship through him — or whether she was already 18 and required to apply separately.
Omar has denied wrongdoing. She and other Democrats, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., have called the investigation political persecution aimed at a prominent Trump critic ahead of the midterm elections.
Speaking Saturday on “The Big Weekend Show,” Homan said the outcome would hinge on the evidence gathered.
“Of course, if you lie during the naturalization process, there is a process to denaturalize somebody. We’ve done it before,” Homan said. “And certainly, if the evidence points that way, that could happen.”
Homan said Omar would be held to the same standards as anyone else and declined to detail investigators’ findings, though he said he has “been told they have a strong case” and that officials would “let the evidence lead where it leads.”
During Tuesday’s Oval Office exchange, Trump also criticized Omar’s public criticism of the United States, questioning why she sought to instruct Americans on governing the country after arriving from Somalia.
“Then she comes over here, and she says that she wants to tell us how to run America,” Trump said. “She wants to tell us how to run the United States of America.”
He went on to criticize her assertions of constitutional rights while calling her election to Congress “amazing,” then repeated his characterization of her as “a disgrace to our country.”
Trump closed the exchange by saying he hoped Omar would “be treated fairly.”
Fox News Digital reported that it reached out to Omar’s office for comment.
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