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.
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.