Former President Barack Obama defended Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) after agents with the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) unit conducted a raid on her home as part of an immigration fraud investigation.
In a post on X, Obama argued that “it is a basic principle of American democracy that the government can’t selectively target individuals simply because of their political beliefs,” saying that is “exactly” what President Donald Trump’s administration is doing to Omar.
Obama went on to note that Omar came to the United States “with her father when she was 12 years old,” and added that “five years later, her father became a naturalized citizen.”
“If Ilhan had been 18 at the time, she would have had to apply for citizenship separately,” Obama said. “But because she was 17, she became a naturalized citizen automatically.”
The former president went on to highlight how Omar graduated from college, worked “as a community organizer,” and became “the first Somali-American legislator elected to public office in the U.S.”
“Now the Administration is actively trying to deport Congresswoman Omar, seemingly based solely on the unsubstantiated theory that she was actually 18 when her father was naturalized, and therefore is not a citizen,” Obama continued. “Federal agents have raided her home, confiscated personal records, and seized her phone — all to try and uncover a nonexistent smoking gun from 20 years ago that will somehow make their case.”
“Think about that,” Obama added. “The full weight of the federal government is being brought down on a law-abiding elected official because she has dared to criticize the president. And it’s not the first time this has happened. Under President Trump, the Justice Department has repeatedly gone after those he considers his political enemies — from the Attorney General of New York, to the former head of the FBI, to members of the Federal Reserve.”
