Representative Randy Fine, a Florida Republican, said anyone who lied on immigration paperwork to become a U.S. citizen should be denaturalized and deported after being asked whether that standard should apply to first lady Melania Trump and billionaire Elon Musk.
Fine made the remarks during a Monday night interview with NewsNation’s Nichole Berlie, who asked whether scrutiny of U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar’s citizenship should extend to high-profile immigrants with ties to the Trump administration.
“Anyone who was not honest in their immigration paperwork,” Fine said, adding that he did not know the circumstances of Melania Trump or Musk’s immigration proceedings and was unaware of any allegations against either of them.
“I believe anyone who lied on their paperwork to become a citizen should be denaturalized and should be deported,” he said.
Melania Trump was born in Slovenia and became a U.S. citizen in 2006, according to the White House. Musk was born in South Africa and became a U.S. citizen through naturalization in 2002, according to his biography written by Walter Isaacson.
Newsweek has reached out to the White House and Musk’s representatives for comment outside of normal business hours.
Fine also called for the reevaluation of everyone who became a naturalized U.S. citizen since 1990, saying he believed citizenship fraud was widespread in Minnesota and citing allegations involving Omar, a Minnesota Democrat.
“So yeah, I think Ilhan Omar needs to be the first. She certainly should not be the last,” Fine said.
The comments come amid an ongoing federal investigation into Omar’s immigration and naturalization paperwork. Federal agents searched her Washington, D.C.-area home on October 12. The Department of Justice (DOJ) previously told Newsweek that the search was part of an “ongoing federal criminal investigation.” Omar has not been charged in connection with the probe.
Federal authorities have also issued more than a dozen grand jury subpoenas, including to some of Omar’s relatives, according to the Associated Press. The scope of the investigation remains unclear.
Omar has said she fears returning to her home following the raid, citing death threats and concerns about her publicly available address.
“Obviously, I can't continue to live there,” she told MS NOW on October 21. “So have to figure out where to move to.”
...
During the interview, Omar recounted waking around 6 a.m. October 12 to Homeland Security Investigations agents pounding on the front and back doors of her home while she, her husband and their 20-year-old son were inside. She described the search as chaotic, saying her family scrambled to get dressed and go downstairs as they tried to understand what was happening.
President Donald Trump called on Omar to resign from Congress on Thursday, alleging she had used a different name to get elected and take the congressional oath.
“It was just revealed just a little while ago that ... her name is not Ilhan Omar, the one she used to get elected and sworn into Congress,” Trump told supporters at a rally in Iowa. “She used a fake name to be sworn in. I assume she must immediately have to resign from Congress.”
The investigation has also renewed attention on longstanding unproven accusations that Omar married her now-former husband, Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, who critics have alleged was her brother, to facilitate his entry into the United States. Omar has repeatedly denied the allegation. In an interview with MS NOW’s Chris Hayes last week, she called the claims “insane” and, when asked whether she was related to Elmi, said, “Not to my knowledge.”
Omar arrived in the United States as a refugee from Somalia and became a naturalized citizen in 2000. She has accused Trump of using the investigation to intimidate her and his other political opponents. Trump has repeatedly attacked Omar’s background and questioned her citizenship.
Newsweek has reached out to Omar’s campaign and the DOJ for comment.
Newsweek’s reporters and editors used Martyn, our AI assistant, to produce this story. Learn more about Martyn here. Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Steven Frank and Edward T. Cummins