Rep. Brandon Gill, a Republican from Texas, has called for the deportation of Rep. Ilhan Omar, a U.S. citizen, back to Somalia, her country of birth.
“America would be a better place if @IlhanMN were deported back to Somalia,” Gill tweeted on Tuesday.
Gill, who represents Texas’s 26th Congressional District, made the comment in response to a video posted by another user. The video showed Omar discussing immigration issues in a recent interview.
About 30 minutes later, Gill posted again, saying, “We should have never let Ilhan Omar into our country.”
Omar, who came to the U.S. as a refugee in 1995, became a U.S. citizen when she was 17 years old in 2000.
A spokesperson for Gill later explained his comments, saying, “Representative Omar’s conduct raises questions about to whom she is most loyal—the American people or illegal aliens from Somalia.” The spokesperson added that Gill believes it is disgraceful for a U.S. Congresswoman and citizen to “facilitate the invasion of our country by illegal alien Somalis.”
The video in question shows Omar, the first Somali-American in Congress, talking about what undocumented Somali immigrants should do if questioned by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers.
“You are not obligated to answer their questions. Just state that you are advised by a lawyer not to answer questions,” Omar said. “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 faced similar calls for deportation last year after a mistranslated clip of her speech in Somali led to a backlash from conservative critics. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) called for Omar to be censured and later said, “I would love to expel her; I think she should be deported, I honestly do,” over the misinterpreted remarks.
Elon Musk, the tech billionaire and close ally of former President Trump, also reacted to the latest video. He wrote, “she is breaking the law. Literally. Outright.”
Omar responded to Musk’s comment in an interview on CNN News Central, saying, “It just shows you how much he lacks an understanding of what the laws of the country are.”
The Minnesota Democrat defended her position, explaining that it is important for people to exercise their Fifth Amendment rights and remain silent unless they are sure they have legal protections.
“Nobody needs to put themselves at jeopardy by speaking to law enforcement if they do not have the advice of lawyers, and we continue to tell people that,” Omar said.
