'He has no authority': Ilhan Omar hits back at Trump's attempt to revoke Somali immigrants' TPS

ST PAUL, MINNESOTA: Democratic representative Ilhan Omar responded to Donald Trump’s claims of terminating temporary protected status (TPS) for Somali immigrants on Monday, November 24, 2025.

She assured Somali immigrants in Minnesota that the president “has no authority” to back his claims, noting that Trump did not understand the laws of their country. 

Ilhan Omar calls Trump a 'lawless president'

During her speech, Omar thanked her community leaders for speaking in one unified voice against the “scapegoating” of the Somali community. Recalling Donald Trump’s recent tweet about terminating the TPS programs, Omar said that even “little kids in eighth grade know” that the president didn’t have the “authority” to do so.

She informed the group that TSP for Somalis is set to expire in March 2026, and that anyone with that status had 60 days afterward for it to have an impact on them. She told the immigrant community that the law was on their side and that there was nothing Donald Trump could do about it. 

“The other unlawful thing that our lawless president is claiming to do is to terminate that status for only one state,” she added. 

She further assured the “300 or so people,” impacted who lived in Minnesota and the rest of the country, that the democratic party saw them and were standing with them. She also assured the people that they would do everything possible to ensure their status was adjusted before the deadline.

Ilhan Omar comments on Trump's lack of evidence backing his claims

As her speech progressed, Ilhan Omar commented on Trump and his “cronies” who claimed that taxpayer resources were being used to aid and abet organized crime and violence. She asserted that the language used by the president was “dangerous” and put the lives of Somalis across the country at risk.

“And if the president believes that, and he had evidence, he would take people to court,” she added. 

Omar further said that she was “sick and tired” of the president demonizing whole communities while “ignorant people” and Trump supporters use his claims as facts.

She referred to the comments made by Donald Trump during the 2024 presidential debate about immigrants eating “cats and dogs,” and said that the vice president, JD Vance, repeated those lies while the media ran with it in their headlines as if they were facts.

She termed these actions “shameless” and “ignorant” and added that it made America look like a “stupid nation.” 

“We are better than that as Americans,” she added.