Ilhan Omar Faces Calls for Deportation After Charlie Kirk Remarks
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), one of the first two Muslim women elected to Congress, is facing new calls for her removal from office and even the revocation of her U.S. citizenship following comments she made about conservative activist Charlie Kirk after his assassination earlier this month.
Omar, who was born in Somalia and became a U.S. citizen in 2000, reposted a video online that accused Kirk of denying “the genocide happening in Palestine” and spreading “racist dog whistles.” In a separate interview with broadcaster Mehdi Hasan, she described herself as “mortified” by Kirk’s murder and expressed empathy for his wife and two children, but also criticized his positions on race relations and gun rights, particularly in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death in her home city of Minneapolis.
Her remarks drew immediate backlash from Republicans, who accused Omar of downplaying the tragedy and fueling political division. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), whose office is near Omar’s on Capitol Hill, introduced a resolution to censure her and remove her from House committees. That motion failed by a single vote, 214–213, after four Republicans joined Democrats to table it.
Mace has since gone further, suggesting Omar’s U.S. citizenship should be revoked. “We would love to see you deported back to Somalia next,” Mace wrote in a social media post. Others online echoed similar calls, citing longstanding allegations that Omar committed immigration and marriage fraud.
Adding to the controversy is renewed attention to Omar’s late father, Nur Omar Mohamed. Somali-language obituaries described him as a senior officer in the regime of dictator Siad Barre, which ruled Somalia for decades and carried out atrocities against rival ethnic groups. Fact-checking organizations like Snopes and Politifact disputed those claims in 2019, describing Nur as a “teacher trainer.” Somali and Kenyan sources, however, referred to him as a colonel in the Barre regime, suggesting he may have specialized in propaganda.
Ilhan Omar’s father brought his family to the US under a refugee program to help people fleeing war caused by Somalia’s genocidal Siad Barre regime.
— Ashley Rindsberg (@AshleyRindsberg) September 21, 2025
What her father, Nur Omar Mohamed, failed to mention is that he was a senior officer in the military of the Barre regime – likely… https://t.co/GCIzPL3on2
Critics claim Omar’s entire immigration story may have been built on her father’s misrepresentation during the U.S. refugee resettlement process. Legal experts note that if fraud were ever proven in her naturalization, denaturalization and deportation could be possible, though such cases are rare and require substantial evidence.
Ilhan Omar DID marry her brother to defraud US immigration laws.
— C3 (@C_3C_3) September 19, 2025
Immigration Fraud:
18 U.S.C. § 1546
10 years
$250,000
Marriage Fraud:
18 U.S.C. § 1325 (c)
10 years
$250,000
Remove her from Congress immediately.
Oops! pic.twitter.com/2TCu3bhQJJ
President Donald Trump weighed in late Thursday, amplifying the allegation that Omar had married her brother. “What SCUM we have in our Country, telling us what to do,” Trump wrote online, also criticizing Somalia’s governance.
🚨 BREAKING: President Trump just unleashed on “SCUM” Ilhan Omar and Somalia, says she MARRIED HER BROTHER to gain citizenship
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) September 18, 2025
“Ilhan Omar’s Country of Somalia is plagued by a lack of central Government control, persistent Poverty, Hunger, Resurgent Terrorism, Piracy, decades of… pic.twitter.com/3FnRdr3lVA
Omar, for her part, has insisted: “You cannot deport an American citizen,” arguing that her critics are motivated by racism and political opportunism.
Ilhan, you’ll know my name soon enough.
— Congressman Randy Fine (@RepFine) September 21, 2025
pic.twitter.com/Ze6WIle9UG
The controversy comes amid a broader political climate of rising tension after Kirk’s assassination. The Trump administration has designated Antifa a domestic terrorist organization, suspended late-night host Jimmy Kimmel for comments about Kirk, and begun reviewing the tax-exempt status of progressive groups. A select committee, led by Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), is now tasked with investigating what Republicans call “a coordinated network of leftists attacking us.”
The National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC), a conservative watchdog group, renewed its demand for an FBI investigation. The group argues that Omar may have violated federal law by marrying her brother, Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, in 2009 to help him obtain U.S. immigration benefits. Public records indicate Omar continued her relationship with her first husband, Ahmed Hirsi, during her legal marriage to Elmi, and she filed joint tax returns with Hirsi while still married to Elmi.
Judicial Watch previously publicized photos of Omar with Elmi in London in 2015, contradicting sworn statements in her divorce filings. A British tabloid also reported claims of DNA evidence suggesting Omar and Elmi are siblings, though this has not been officially verified.
