Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., chair of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said he wants the Trump administration to make public any evidence it has that Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., violated immigration laws and could be expelled from Congress.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin alleged last week that Omar married her brother and could be deported. The matter is still being investigated, he said.
White House border czar Tom Homan confirmed Sunday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement is investigating Omar to determine whether she obtained her U.S. citizenship through fraud, The Washington Times reported.
Homan declined to provide details but confirmed the investigation.
“I think they should make it public. Absolutely, make it public,” Comer said Monday night on “Just the News, No Noise.”
“The evidence that I’ve seen would show that. They would be privy to a lot more evidence than I would have. Most of the evidence I have [is] public already, anyway. So, I think it should be made public, and I think the members of Congress should be the judge and the jury in this.
“Let us vote as to whether or not she needs to remain in Congress. If you violated the laws to become a citizen, should that make you ineligible to be a member of Congress? I think so. But put it up for a vote in Congress and let the American people see how their member of Congress would vote on that.”
The Constitution allows the House to expel a member with a two-thirds vote.
Omar, who was born in Somalia and became the first Somali American elected to Congress, came to the U.S. in 1995 at age 12 after her family was granted refugee status. She became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2000.
Omar has for years denied the allegation that Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, whom she married in 2009, is her brother and that the marriage was intended to help him obtain immigration benefits. The allegation has not been publicly substantiated.