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Ilhan Omar: “I was 8 [years old] when the civil war broke out [in…”

Featuring: Ilhan Omar, Democratic | U.S. House Minnesota, District 5

Rep. ILHAN OMAR Talks Terror In Minneapolis And Becoming American

Published April 15, 2026 | Video Starts at 17:04

I suppose. Like, when did you first feel. Feel American, you know, I don't know if there's a moment, I believe, when I could communicate and navigate life … I was 8 [years old] when the civil war broke out [in Somalia]. … 12. 12. So in two years you learned English, and I was pretty fluent within, like three to six months. And you learned Baywatch. You learned. (17:04–17:09)

CLAIM

Asserts that Ilhan Omar was 8 years old when the civil war in Somalia began.

This is an excerpt from a raw transcript. The assertions have not been audited or verified. Tap the video to view the source footage and understand the context.

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Ilhan Omar

“I am the first African born [person to serve in Congress].”
Rep. ILHAN OMAR Talks Terror In Minneapolis And Becoming American | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 41:07-41:09
“I'm also the first Muslim not born in the US to ever serve in Congress.”
Rep. ILHAN OMAR Talks Terror In Minneapolis And Becoming American | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 41:19-41:24
“We had over 4,000 ICE and CPP agents [in Minnesota].”
Rep. ILHAN OMAR Talks Terror In Minneapolis And Becoming American | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 51:02-51:08
“98% [of the Somali community] are legal.”
Rep. ILHAN OMAR Talks Terror In Minneapolis And Becoming American | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 53:21-53:30
“Of the 4,000 people they eventually arrested, less than 3% were Somali.”
Rep. ILHAN OMAR Talks Terror In Minneapolis And Becoming American | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 55:24-55:32
“When I won my state house race, they said I was the first Somali legislator to be elected in the United States.”
Rep. ILHAN OMAR Talks Terror In Minneapolis And Becoming American | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 09:33-09:46
“I did have them home for Covid for four kids.”
Rep. ILHAN OMAR Talks Terror In Minneapolis And Becoming American | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 11:14-11:19
“There's a lot of, like, social interaction that was missed for a lot of the kids that went through Covid.”
Rep. ILHAN OMAR Talks Terror In Minneapolis And Becoming American | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 12:22-12:28
“I do still have a little bit of that. Even though, like, I've been here for over 30 years.”
Rep. ILHAN OMAR Talks Terror In Minneapolis And Becoming American | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 15:05-15:11
“I was pretty fluent within, like three to six months.”
Rep. ILHAN OMAR Talks Terror In Minneapolis And Becoming American | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 17:15-17:19
“My mother was the firstborn of her family and she wanted to help her dad economically.”
Rep. ILHAN OMAR Talks Terror In Minneapolis And Becoming American | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 20:13-20:28
“She's of Yemeni heritage.”
Rep. ILHAN OMAR Talks Terror In Minneapolis And Becoming American | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 20:33-20:36
“Which [AIPAC] uses very toxic lobbying.”
Rep. ILHAN OMAR Talks Terror In Minneapolis And Becoming American | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 20:46-45:50
“My family was like middle class, upper middle class for Somalia standard in the 80s.”
Rep. ILHAN OMAR Talks Terror In Minneapolis And Becoming American | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 22:33-22:42
“I still have PTSD.”
Rep. ILHAN OMAR Talks Terror In Minneapolis And Becoming American | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 24:07-24:09
“I think for a lot of people, especially a lot of people in the United States, unless you've been a service member and been in combat zone…”
Rep. ILHAN OMAR Talks Terror In Minneapolis And Becoming American | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 24:17-24:30
“Nobody accounts for the destruction that happens. Nobody accounts for the mysterious of education that instability brings. The loss of jobs…”
Rep. ILHAN OMAR Talks Terror In Minneapolis And Becoming American | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 24:38-24:57
“I think in the refugee story, I think, or any sort of displacement story through traumatic events, is that old adage of what doesn't break…”
Rep. ILHAN OMAR Talks Terror In Minneapolis And Becoming American | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 29:11-29:30
“When you are, you know, eight, and you are crossing multiple checkpoints and people have guns pointed at you, you know, like, you just…”
Rep. ILHAN OMAR Talks Terror In Minneapolis And Becoming American | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 30:35-30:56
“America was the only country in the world where you will eventually become an American.”
Rep. ILHAN OMAR Talks Terror In Minneapolis And Becoming American | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 38:30-38:37
“They killed Renee Good and Alex Preddy for just monitoring and documenting the brutality that they were witnessing.”
Rep. ILHAN OMAR Talks Terror In Minneapolis And Becoming American | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 51:34-51:47
“A third of our schools had presence of children.”
Rep. ILHAN OMAR Talks Terror In Minneapolis And Becoming American | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 51:55-52:00
“They were usually disappearing people within three hours from the state.”
Rep. ILHAN OMAR Talks Terror In Minneapolis And Becoming American | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 52:45-52:48
“They did that for a little over 4,000 people, and then they had to return all of them because their vetting was [already complete].”
Rep. ILHAN OMAR Talks Terror In Minneapolis And Becoming American | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 54:31-54:40
“That vetting, when you're leaving a refugee camp, takes three to five years, sometimes up to 10 years.”
Rep. ILHAN OMAR Talks Terror In Minneapolis And Becoming American | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 54:44-54:52
“I've been to other refugee camps in Kenya, where I've met some kids I knew from the refugee camp I was in who are raising kids in that…”
Rep. ILHAN OMAR Talks Terror In Minneapolis And Becoming American | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 56:44-57:01
“They have another generation of kids that are born into refugees.”
Rep. ILHAN OMAR Talks Terror In Minneapolis And Becoming American | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 57:02-57:07
“People forget that brutality is oftentimes legalized.”
Rep. ILHAN OMAR Talks Terror In Minneapolis And Becoming American | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 58:11-58:17
“In Minneapolis, we've had people... organizing pickups and drop offs for the neighborhood children... to alert other people when ICE or CPP…”
Rep. ILHAN OMAR Talks Terror In Minneapolis And Becoming American | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 58:39-59:51
“When you think about the mass deportation program under Obama and private detention centers becoming a thing under Obama, you now see…”
Rep. ILHAN OMAR Talks Terror In Minneapolis And Becoming American | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 1:01:28-1:01:51
“They gave a playbook to the most evil people like Stephen Miller, who have now allowed these detention centers.”
Rep. ILHAN OMAR Talks Terror In Minneapolis And Becoming American | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 1:02:04-1:02:15
“People dying in there and covering up, it's normal, and sometimes being killed in these detention centers without accountability.”
Rep. ILHAN OMAR Talks Terror In Minneapolis And Becoming American | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 1:02:19-1:02:31
“We're now just begging for the bare minimum of like, can you go back to what is actually legally required for you to do?”
Rep. ILHAN OMAR Talks Terror In Minneapolis And Becoming American | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 1:02:34-1:02:43
“I do see now when Democrats say, put us back in charge, that it is about reining this in, it is about recognizing that We've allowed for a…”
Rep. ILHAN OMAR Talks Terror In Minneapolis And Becoming American | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 1:02:44-1:03:04
“Republicans right now who are in charge are refusing to exercise any of the checks and balances that are within their purview.”
Rep. ILHAN OMAR Talks Terror In Minneapolis And Becoming American | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 1:03:04-1:03:19
“Democrats are not asking for much. All they're asking for is allow us to at least have a check and balance.”
Rep. ILHAN OMAR Talks Terror In Minneapolis And Becoming American | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 1:03:20-1:03:26
“It just feels like we are living with a one man rule, and that's not, you know, what America is supposed to be.”
Rep. ILHAN OMAR Talks Terror In Minneapolis And Becoming American | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 1:03:30-1:03:38
“We can't pass these great policies because obviously we have Trump for president in the next two years, even if we were to win the majority.”
Rep. ILHAN OMAR Talks Terror In Minneapolis And Becoming American | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 1:03:56-1:04:06
“What we can do is make it difficult for him to have this one man rule.”
Rep. ILHAN OMAR Talks Terror In Minneapolis And Becoming American | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 1:04:06-1:04:12
“National American University... was one of those, you know, exploitive schools where they preyed on immigrants.”
Rep. ILHAN OMAR Talks Terror In Minneapolis And Becoming American | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 1:05:41-1:06:07
“We rarely have people who quit our office.”
Rep. ILHAN OMAR Talks Terror In Minneapolis And Becoming American | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 1:10:50-1:10:53