Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., is making waves by standing up for the Somali community in Minnesota as whispers of a major immigration enforcement sweep loom over the Twin Cities.
Fox News reported that Omar’s recent media blitz addressed a planned Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation in Minneapolis, fraud allegations tied to Somali groups, and sharp personal criticism from President Donald Trump.
Let’s start with Thursday, when Omar took to the "Native Land Pod" podcast to tackle growing criticism of Somali migrants in her home state.
She argued that the vast majority of Somalis in Minnesota, including herself, arrived as refugees with legal documentation and have since become U.S. citizens.
Reports from The New York Times, however, reveal that ICE is gearing up for an intensive enforcement action in the Twin Cities, putting the community on edge.
Omar’s take? She’s not buying the narrative that there’s a significant undocumented population to target.
"[ICE agents] are being met with people who are showing them that they are citizens, and they're having a really hard time and making fools of themselves trying to find a noncitizen or somebody who is undocumented in our community because that is like a needle in a haystack," Omar said on the podcast.
While her confidence in the community’s legal status might reassure some, it sidesteps the inconvenient truth that not everyone may be waving a citizenship card when ICE comes knocking—and enforcement isn’t just about numbers, it’s about policy.
On Tuesday, the Small Business Administration dropped a bombshell, announcing a probe into a network of Somali organizations in Minnesota tied to a massive COVID-related fraud scandal.
This scandal has critics pointing fingers at Gov. Tim Walz’s administration for allegedly failing to oversee public funds properly.
Omar addressed these fraud concerns on Wednesday during an appearance on CNN’s "The Lead" with Jake Tapper, where she suggested the rapid rollout of COVID relief programs lacked sufficient safeguards.
"I think what happened, um, is that, you know, when you have these, kind of new programs that are, um, designed to help people, you're oftentimes relying on third parties to be able to facilitate," Omar explained on CNN.
Her reasoning might sound pragmatic, but it’s hard to ignore that accountability starts at the top, and deflecting to “third parties” doesn’t quite cut it when taxpayer dollars vanish into thin air.
Adding fuel to the fire, President Trump entered the fray with harsh words, calling Omar derogatory names and suggesting Somalis should return to their country of origin, prompting a sharp rebuke from the congresswoman for what she called dehumanizing rhetoric.
While Trump’s comments may resonate with those frustrated by immigration challenges, they risk alienating communities who, as Omar notes, largely play by the rules—and a little tact could go a long way in keeping the conversation focused on policy over personal jabs.
