Washington, D.C. | www.mpac.org | October 15, 2026— The Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) condemns the apparent political targeting and intimidation efforts against Congresswoman Ilhan Omar following the October 12 federal search of her residence in Washington, D.C. and recent reports that federal investigators are seeking to build a case to revoke her U.S. citizenship.
The circumstances surrounding the sporadic investigation raise serious concerns regarding the administration’s motivation behind them and whether federal law enforcement—a legally mandated nonpartisan entity—is being used to intimidate political opponents under directive of the current administration. Critics are claiming this violation of nonpartisanship violates the Hatch Act, which “prohibits Department employees from engaging in partisan political activity while on duty, in a federal facility or using federal property.”
Federal authorities have seized Congresswoman Omar's phone and issued more than a dozen subpoenas, including to members of her family, as part of a probe into potential immigration fraud. The search was authorized by a federal judge and carried out by Homeland Security Investigations just three weeks before the midterm elections in November, despite the Justice Department's longstanding practice of avoiding public investigative actions involving candidates so close to an election. The practice—though not the law—is known as the 60 or 90-day rule, in which the Justice Department will refrain from public indictments to avoid impacting the turnout and results of elections.
Congresswoman Omar, who had been naturalized in 2000 at age 17, has spent years refuting allegations about her immigration history. Now, more than two decades after obtaining citizenship, intense public scrutiny and political targeting have resumed under an administration whose President has repeatedly called for her removal from the country and directed inflammatory remarks at Somali Americans, including referring to people from Somalia as "garbage."
MPAC calls on the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security to provide transparency regarding the circumstances and scope of this investigation, while ensuring that Congresswoman Omar's constitutional rights are fully protected.
Political dissent must and should never become grounds for government intimidation, nor should an American's citizenship be treated as conditional on their political beliefs. Upholding
due process and the nonpartisanship of federal law enforcement is essential to preserving public trust in our democratic institutions. Those protections must remain intact, even when an elected official is at odds with the administration conducting the investigation.
