House Majority Whip: Fraudsters Should be “Denaturalized,” Deported, “Especially Someone Who’s Committed Marriage Fraud”

by Sharon Rondeau

(Jan. 2, 2026) — In an appearance on “Jesse Watters Primetime” Friday evening guest-hosted by Charlie Hurt, House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN6) called for all “immigrants” to the United States who defrauded the U.S. government, referring to the exploding allegations of systemic deception on the part large swaths of the greater Minneapolis Somali community, to be stripped of their U.S. citizenship if it was acquired and deported to their home country.

“Fraud” alleged against dozens of defendants in the scheme, which has led to at least 75, includes the operation of purported day care centers, health and autism service agencies, transportation services, and child-nutrition assistance which were never provided; instead, federal and state funding was purloined for travel, luxury cars, exclusive vacation properties, and other perks.

Other programs abused were the COVID-19-era Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program, a December 23 House investigative committee reported, with the total amount of stolen funds as high as $9 billion.

Emmer’s prescription for the fraudsters, he told Hurt, applies “especially [to] someone who’s committed marriage fraud.”

The claim has now been publicly made by several high-profile politicians, including President Trump, against Emmer’s fellow House member, Ilhan Omar, who represents the state’s 5th Congressional District.

Reporting of Omar’s alleged marriage fraud dates back at least seven years, presenting evidence she entered into a “marriage” to her blood brother with the ostensible purpose of facilitating his receipt of U.S. student aid early in the last decade.

Emmer did not elaborate on the case, but to this writer’s knowledge, Omar is the only individual openly accused of committing such a crime.

His comments mirrored those he made on his website on December 29 in which he used strong language to denounce “those who take advantage of our charity and refuse to assimilate into our culture.”

Trump, too, has called for mass deportations and the revoking of U.S. citizenship to those who defrauded American taxpayers. “Send them back from where they came, Somalia, perhaps the worst, and most corrupt, country on earth. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!” he wrote on Truth Social on Wednesday.

On December 7, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said her agency has discovered approximately half of all Somali visa applications have been found to contain fraudulent information. “The Somalian population — we’re seeing almost 50% fraud in their visa applications, which means they came into this country on false pretenses, false applications, they maybe married somebody that was their brother that they wanted to get into this country, and we’re going back and looking at all those…,” she told “The Ingraham Angle” host Laura Ingraham.

The same week, Noem dispatched ICE agents to the Minneapolis-St. Paul area to investigate potential immigration fraud and violations.