Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) yesterday called for the denaturalization of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) after a controversial speech was uncovered in which she pledged to put Somalia first in Congress and her work. While I have been a long critic of Omar, her views expressed in this speech are not only protected speech, but they are not a basis for denaturalization.

In the video, Rep. Omar is shown declaring that “We as Somalians we love each other. There are areas of friction that led us to kill each other, but in reality, we are an organized society — brother and sisters, people of the same blood.”

She then goes further into where their loyalties lie:  “People who know they are Somalians first, Muslims second, who protect one another, come to each other’s aid and to the aid of other Muslims too.” She assures the audience that the U.S. government will “only do what Somalians in the U.S. tell them to do…They will do what we want and nothing else. They must follow our orders and that is how we will safeguard the interests of Somalia,” she said.

She further declares that “For as long as I am in the U.S. Congress, Somalia will never be in danger,” she said, telling Somalians to “sleep in comfort, knowing I am here to protect the interests of Somalia from inside the U.S. system.”

The speech has led to calls for expulsion from Congress and denaturalization. Neither would be appropriate, in my view.

The speech is clearly protected under the First Amendment. Omar is not advocating imminent violent or criminal conduct. She is expressing her personal priorities and loyalties. The omission of an expression of loyalty to the United States has left many irate and insulted. However, it is still protected speech. Indeed, burning an American flag and condemning America are protected forms of free expression.

Omar was born in Mogadishu, Somalia in 1982 and her family fled the country during the Somali Civil War. After living in refuge camps, the family was given asylum in the United States. The family would eventually move to Minnesota where Omar achieved the extraordinary distinction of becoming the first Somali-American legislator elected to Congress in 2017.

She has remained a controversial figure due to her statements on Israel and other subjects.

The growing calls for denaturalization are disconnected from governing constitutional and statutory standards.

The authority to denaturalize is implied in the language of Article I, Section 8, Clause 4:

“[The Congress shall have Power . . . ] To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States…”

Denaturalization is largely based on the granting of citizenship based on fraudulent or false representations. In Johannessen v. United States, 225 U.S. 227, 241 (1912), the Court held that  “[a]n alien has no moral nor constitutional right to retain the privileges of citizenship if, by false evidence or the like, an imposition has been practiced upon the court, without which the certificate of citizenship could not and would not have been issued.” A failure “to comply with any of these conditions renders the certification of citizenship  ‘illegally procured,’ and naturalization that is unlawfully procured can be set aside.”

Others can condemn Rep. Omar’s comment, but they cannot strip away her citizenship due to her exercise of free speech.

The greatest disconnect in these calls is that Omar would be stripped of her citizenship for exercising the very right that defines us as citizens.

We are loyal Americans because we are bound by a type of covenant of faith in our Constitution, the commitment to each other that we will fight for the rights of our neighbors regardless of whether we agree with their values or views.

This country is not endangered by a lack of patriotism or even a lack of loyalty in others. It is threatened by allowing our anger to blind us to the denial of the very thing that defines us.