As Katie covered on Monday, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), made concerning comments about how her primary interest, while serving in Congress, is to protect Somali interests. Now, noteworthy figures in the United States are calling for her to face the consequences, with Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) posting a call to "Expel [her] from Congress, denaturalize and deport!"
Expel from Congress, denaturalize and deport! https://t.co/UyjEmSSIoQ
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) January 30, 2024
Speaking originally in Somali, Omar's remarks were highlighted by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs for the Republic of Somaliland Rhoda J. Elmi, who expressed great concern. According to her translation, Omar said she was "Somalian first, Muslim second" and was "here to protect the interests of Somalia from inside the U.S. system."
DeSantis certainly isn't the only one to issue such a call, and "#ExpelOmar" has been trending over X on Tuesday. The Libs of TikTok account, which has also participated in the trend, shared a clip originally posted in July 2019 where Omar had initially referred to Somalia as "my country."
FLASHBACK: Ilhan Omar accidentally lets slip where her allegiance lies…
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) January 30, 2024
Referencing Somalia, she says “my country” before quickly correcting herself and saying “the country I came from.” pic.twitter.com/VqRRiLBqik
It will certainly be worth staying tuned to see if any efforts to actually expel Omar. It's been a practice seldomly used in Congress, once only used for members who fought for the Confederacy or were convicted of crimes. Last December, however, now former Rep. George Santos (R-NY) was expelled from the Republican-controlled House, with many of his fellow Republicans joining in to send him packing. The expulsion came as he's been facing numerous charges from the the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York, and a report had been released the month before by the by the House Ethics Committee.
And, from there, Omar could theoretically be denaturalized and deported. In covering DeSantis' post, Ward Clark at our sister site of RedState highlighted a few key points, including how 8 U.S. Code § 1451 - Revocation of naturalization, which allows for the revocation of U.S. citizenship, is quite relevant here.
As he also mentioned:
One can make a good argument that Ilhan Omar misrepresented her intent when she took the oath of allegiance to the United States. She has also allegedly misrepresented family attachments to aid in the importation of other Somalis. But the real key point here is in her speech; she has stated -- openly -- that her allegiance is not to the United States nor her constituents, but to a foreign power. She deliberately lied when she took her oath of allegiance to the United States and when she took her oath of office as a member of Congress. Governor DeSantis is absolutely correct; Ilhan Omar is claiming, openly, to have no allegiance to the United States, to have lied in multiple sworn oaths, and she should be expelled from Congress, stripped of her citizenship, and returned to whence she came - Somalia. She claims to represent Somalia, then let her do it there. We have no need of her here.
November is coming, as Clark also went on to conclude his piece by reminding. Not only could we see a change in which party controls the White House and/or the Senate, with the House still possibly being under Republican control, but Omar faces a primary challenger.
Former Councilman Don Samuels announced last November he would primary the Squad member. He also ran against her for the 2022 primary race, and came shockingly close, earning 48.20 percent of the vote to Omar's 50.35 percent.
Since that 2022 primary, Omar has not only made the concerning remarks above, but has also come under fire for calling for the pro-Hamas talking point of a ceasefire after Hamas perpetrated a terrorist attack on October 7, made more antisemitic and anti-Israel remarks, has repeated claims House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) is a "terrorist," been accused of violating ethics rules, and has voted against pro-Israel resolutions. She was also removed from the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, after the House voted last February to kick her off of the Committee.
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