Ilhan Omar compares Stephen Miller’s immigration rhetoric to Nazism

In an interview Sunday on CBS News, Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota argued that the Trump administration was using Nazi rhetoric against Somali immigrants.

The Somali community in Minnesota has come under intense scrutiny after dozens of convictions related to fraud, totaling hundreds of millions of dollars. The controversy has led some to argue that immigration standards should be strengthened to avoid further criminal activity from migrants.

‘We know the way that people were described who were coming from Ireland, Irish immigrants. … We know the way in which people were described back then, when they were Italian immigrants.’

On Sunday, Omar fired back against comments from White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller claiming Somali migrants are unable to assimilate into the U.S. culture.

“You are not just importing individuals. You are importing societies,” Miller said in response to an article on the Somali community. “No magic transformation occurs when failed states cross borders. At scale, migrants and their descendants recreate the conditions, and terrors, of their broken homelands.”

Omar called the claims “white supremacist” rhetoric and compared Somalis to earlier communities of migrants in the country’s history.

“It reminds me of the way the Nazis described Jewish people in Germany. And as we know, there have been many immigrants who have tried to come to the United States who have turned back one of them being Jewish immigrants,” Omar said.

“We know the way that people were described who were coming from Ireland, Irish immigrants,” Omar added. “We know the way in which people were described back then, when they were Italian immigrants. And to me, we’re, yes, of course, ethnically Somali. We are in this country as Americans, we are citizens, we are a productive part of this nation, and we will continue to be.”

Video of Omar’s comments were posted to social media by the White House rapid response team.

RELATED: Minnesota news outlet gets wrecked online for story on Somali migrants’ economic impact

Omar was also pressed by the CBS host on how the fraud grew to such a large scale.

“I think what happened is that when you have these kind of new programs that are designed to help people, you’re oftentimes relying on third parties to be able to facilitate,” she responded. “And I just think that a lot of the COVID programs that were set up — they were set up so quickly that a lot of the guardrails did not get created.”

About 78 people have been indicted in various scams in Minnesota, and dozens have been convicted.

The Somali community in Minnesota includes about 107,000 members, or about 2% of the total population, according to some estimates. The percentage of Muslims in the state is about the same.

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