Ilhan was born in Somalia. He is the first American-Muslim lawmaker from that country. He was elected a member of Congress from Minnesota in 2016. He works on immigrant and refugee issues.
Before the vote, Republican lawmakers argued that Ilhan Omar had repeatedly made anti-Semitic and anti-Israel remarks. Through this, he lost his eligibility to serve on the Foreign Affairs Committee.
However, Ilhan alleged that Republican lawmakers targeted him because of his personal identity. “If you’re an immigrant, you’re from the other side of the world, you’re a different color or you’re Muslim, they (Republicans) will suspect you,” he said. It’s not even an accident that members of the Republican Party accused the first black president, Barack Obama, of being a Muslim.’
