Ilhan Omar Faces Hostile Attacks Amid Rising Threats in U.S. Politics
Congresswoman Ilhan Omar has been the target of repeated hostile and racially charged attacks, including from former President Donald Trump. At a rally-style event in Pennsylvania, Trump mocked Omar's hijab and alleged that she married her brother to gain citizenship, with the crowd chanting "Send her back." Omar has condemned these attacks as vile and described them as reflections of a political playbook of bigotry meant to deflect from pressing issues such as affordability.
Omar, who came to the United States at age 12 on refugee status and became a citizen at 17, is a duly elected member of Congress. She highlighted how the Somali community in Minnesota, where about 84,000 of the 260,000 Somalis in the U.S. live in Minneapolis–St Paul, is disproportionately scapegoated. Of that population, nearly 58% are U.S.-born and 87% of foreign-born Somalis are naturalized citizens. Trump has linked immigration crackdowns to Somali communities and previously admitted using the term "shithole countries," expressing preference for Nordic immigrants over Somalis. Omar frames this rhetoric as part of a broader pattern of dehumanizing language and an international embarrassment for the United States.
Security concerns for Omar have intensified due to this hostile environment. Along with her husband Tim Mynett, she has noted the heightened risks as she faces the highest level of death threats among members of Congress. There was a 2019 plot to attack her that led to her being assigned a full six-person security detail by the government. Capitol Police data reveal 9,474 threatening statements and direct threats against members of Congress in 2024, more than double the 3,939 recorded in 2017.
U.S. homeland-security data indicate enforcement actions resulting in over 605,000 deportations since January 20, 2024, and an additional 1.9 million self-deported individuals amid intensified immigration crackdowns. Omar's experiences and statements underscore the broader challenges faced by immigrant communities and the toxic political rhetoric encompassing U.S. immigration and race relations.
