A MAGA lawmaker crusading to strip Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) of her citizenship refused to spare first lady Melania Trump and Elon Musk from his sweeping deportation push.
Rep. Randy Fine (R-FL) was pressed Monday on NewsNation on whether his proposed crackdown on naturalized citizens should also apply to high-profile immigrants with close ties to President Donald Trump.
“I believe that anyone who lied on their paperwork to become a citizen should be denaturalized and should be deported,” Fine said.
The exchange came after Fine called for a sweeping review of naturalized citizens, saying “we should go back to 1990 and we should reevaluate everyone who has become a naturalized citizen.” He singled out Omar, who is under federal investigation over her citizenship, as Trump amplified his own attacks on the Minnesota Democrat. Omar has accused Trump of weaponizing federal law enforcement against her.
The interviewer then asked whether that same scrutiny should extend to Melania Trump and Musk, both of whom immigrated to the United States before becoming citizens. Fine did not carve out an exception for either.
“I don’t know anything about the circumstances of the first lady or Elon Musk,” he said. “I don’t know that there’s ever been an allegation.”
Reports have swirled about both, however.
The AP reported in 2016 that Melania Trump was paid for modeling work in the U.S. before receiving a work visa. Her attorney maintained she never violated her immigration status. The Washington Post reported in 2024 that Musk briefly worked illegally in the U.S. in the 1990s, which he denied. Neither has been charged with wrongdoing.
Fine insisted the crackdown should not stop with Omar, saying she “needs to be the first” but “certainly should not be the last.”
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