Ilhan Omar Compares Stephen Miller’s Immigration Rhetoric to Nazi-Era Propaganda
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) lashed out at White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller on Sunday, likening his latest immigration remarks to rhetoric used by Nazi Germany to demonize Jews.
Speaking on CBS’s Face the Nation, Omar responded to a recent Thanksgiving Day post from Miller, a key architect of President Trump’s immigration policy, in which he warned that mass migration from failed states risks “recreating the conditions and terrors” of those homelands inside the United States.
Host Margaret Brennan asked Omar to respond to Miller’s argument that migrants who fail to assimilate may be contributing to societal decline. Omar, a Somali-born lawmaker who has frequently clashed with Miller, did not hold back.
“When I think about Stephen Miller and his white supremacist rhetoric, it reminds me—yes, it reminds me—of the way the Nazis described Jewish people in Germany,” Omar said.
She went on to invoke historical examples of immigrant groups being demonized, saying, “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, and they were Italian immigrants.”
“As a Somali-American, we are in this country as Americans. We are citizens. We are a productive part of this nation,” she added.
The Miller Statement
Miller’s post, which was shared widely online, read: “No magic. Transformation occurs when failed states cross borders at scale. Migrants and their descendants recreate the conditions and terrors of their broken homelands.”
The post echoed concerns raised by Miller and others in the Trump administration about what they describe as the cultural and civic consequences of large-scale, unvetted migration.
Critics, including Omar, view the remarks as an attempt to link immigration to national decay, while invoking racist or xenophobic tropes.
Ongoing Clash
Omar and Miller have been engaged in a public feud for years. In 2019, Omar accused Miller of being a “white nationalist,” to which Miller responded by accusing Omar of anti-Semitism and America-hating rhetoric.
Omar’s latest comments are likely to draw sharp criticism from Republicans, who have long accused her of using inflammatory and divisive language when discussing issues of race, immigration, and foreign policy.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration continues to press forward with hardline immigration policies, including recent enforcement surges targeting Somali immigrants in Omar’s home state of Minnesota, following revelations of widespread fraud in federal aid programs.
The rhetoric from both sides appears to be escalating as the 2026 midterm season approaches, with immigration once again shaping up to be a dominant political flashpoint.