Trump attacks Somalis, suggests jail or deportation for Ilhan Omar

• Trump branded the Minnesota Democrat a “sick, very dishonest person” and disparaged her native Somalia.
• The remarks came as the administration announced a new federal fraud whistleblower incentive program.
• Omar, a naturalized US citizen, has denied wrongdoing and described the investigation into her immigration and citizenship records as politically motivated.

US President Donald Trump suggested on Tuesday that Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar could face imprisonment or deportation, as his administration intensifies its attacks on Minnesota’s Somali community.

Speaking at an event announcing a federal fraud whistleblower program, Trump called Omar a “sick, very dishonest person who hates our country” and described her native Somalia as a “real s*ithouse,” claiming it lacked a functioning government or police.

The remarks came amid a federal investigation into Omar’s immigration and citizenship records, following a search of her home by federal agents. Omar, a naturalized US citizen, has denied wrongdoing and called the probe politically motivated.

The investigation unfolds alongside the administration’s broader campaign against alleged fraud involving Somali networks in Minnesota, drawing increased scrutiny to the state’s Somali-American community. The administration has used fraud allegations to justify heightened attention to the community, while critics have raised concerns about the targeting of Somali Americans.

Omar, one of Congress’s most prominent Muslim lawmakers and a longtime Trump critic, has repeatedly been singled out by the president over her Somali origins and political views.

Trump’s deportation threat also raises legal questions: Omar is a US citizen, and deportation generally applies to noncitizens. Revoking naturalized citizenship requires a separate legal process and cannot be accomplished through presidential rhetoric alone.

Read more: Trump administration says it has revoked more than 300,000 US visas