WASHINGTON: Former US president Barack Obama has condemned the Trump administration's actions against Democratic congresswoman Ilhan Omar as an attempt at intimidation following a raid on her home.
"It is a basic principle of American democracy that the government can't selectively target individuals simply because of their political beliefs or what they say," Obama wrote on X on Sunday, reported German news agency dpa.
"But that's exactly what the Trump Administration is doing to Congresswoman Ilhan Omar of Minnesota."
Obama is known for carefully weighing which current political events he comments on.
In his lengthy post, he complained that the government was actively trying to deport the Somalia-born Trump critic, "seemingly based solely on the unsubstantiated theory that she was actually 18 when her father was naturalised, and therefore is not a citizen."
Under US citizenship rules, it makes a difference whether someone is under 18 or not.
Had Omar been 18 at the time of her father's naturalisation, she would have had to apply for citizenship separately, Obama noted.
"But because she was 17, she became a naturalised citizen automatically."
The first Black US president was once confronted with the false claim, prominently promoted by Trump, that he had been born in Kenya rather than in the US state of Hawaii.
Last Monday, federal agents searched Omar's home in the Washington area.
The move drew heavy criticism, partly because of its timing shortly before the congressional elections, in which the congresswoman is seeking re-election.
© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd