Randy Fine’s threat to seek Ilhan Omar’s expulsion from the United States marks a dramatic escalation in the GOP’s war over immigration, welfare, and national identity. Tying her fate to allegations of massive fraud in Minnesota’s aid programs, he casts Omar not as an isolated controversy, but as a symbol of what he calls systemic failure in Democratic-led states and in federal immigration enforcement. His push to end all welfare for noncitizens, legal and illegal alike, is designed to turn outrage into hard policy, forcing a national fight over who deserves taxpayer support.
At the same time, Trump’s renewed claims that Omar married her brother for immigration purposes, and Tom Homan’s confirmation that DHS is pulling records to investigate possible visa fraud, raise the stakes far beyond rhetoric. Omar’s story—Somali refugee turned congresswoman—once embodied the promise of American asylum. Now it is being weaponized as Exhibit A in a broader crackdown, with both her legal status and political future hanging in the balance as investigations unfold and voters decide whose version of America they want to defend.