A Texas Republican has called for Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, a U.S. citizen, to be deported to her home country of Somalia.
“America would be a better place if @IlhanMN were deported back to Somalia,” Brandon Gill wrote Tuesday on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Newsweek has contacted Omar’s office for comment via email outside of normal office hours.
Why It Matters
President Donald Trump has begun enacting his aggressive deportation program.
Immigration and mass deportations were a key element of Trump’s 2024 campaign and Republicans sweeping to power on a national level.
Americans support the need for immigration reform but disagree about how deportation policies should be carried out.
A poll by The New York Times and Ipsos conducted from January 2 to 10 found that 55 percent of voters strongly or somewhat supported such plans. Eighty-eight percent supported “deporting immigrants who are here illegally and have criminal records.”
What To Know
Gill, a first-term representative for Texas’s 26th Congressional District, was reacting to a video shared on X on Tuesday, featuring a recent interview between the Minnesota Democrat and a reporter.
About half an hour later, in a separate post, Gill said on X, “We should have never let Ilhan Omar into our country.”
Omar, who represents Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District, arrived in the U.S. as a refugee in 1995 and became a naturalized citizen in 2000 at the age of 17.
In the video, Omar, the first Somali American congresswoman, explained what undocumented Somalis, or those whose documentation may have expired, should do if questioned by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers.
“You are not obligated to answer their questions. Just state that your are advised by a lawyer not to answer questions,” Omar told the reporter. “Disclosure of your name, immigration status, and the mode of entry is not mandatory. Learn the laws and prepare yourself and refrain from disclosing information that you prefer them not to know.”
Omar is embroiled in a war of words with tech billionaire Elon Musk over the legal advice she was offering to undocumented immigrants if they encounter ICE agents.
Last year, a misinterpreted clip of Omar’s speech in Somali sparked intense criticism from conservatives, leading to calls for her deportation. In response, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene introduced a motion to censure Omar, later stating to reporters, “I would love to expel her; I think she should be deported, I honestly do,” over the incorrect translation.
What People Are Saying
A spokesperson for Brandon Gill said in a statement, “Representative Omar’s conduct raises questions about to whom she is most loyal—the American people or illegal aliens from Somalia. Representative Gill simply stated that it is disgraceful for a sitting Congresswoman and U.S. citizen to facilitate the invasion of our country by illegal alien Somalis.”
Elon Musk said in a post, X: “She is breaking the law. Literally. Outright.”
In response, Congresswoman Ilhan Omar said on X: “Hey Elon Every single person in this country deserves to know their rights. That’s legal. Maybe you should brush up on our laws given the fact you’re breaking them to steal American’s sensitive data. PS. This video is manipulated, and I wasn’t even at the event shown.”
“It just shows you how much he lacks an understanding of what the laws of the country are,” Omar said on Tuesday on CNN News Central when asked about Musk’s post.
What Happens Next
The dispute highlights the deep divisions in U.S. politics over immigration, as Republicans look to enact Trump’s hardline immigration agenda while progressives regroup and plot to oppose his agenda.
