Vice President Vance says “we actually think that Ilhan Omar definitely committed immigration fraud”
JD VanceVice President of the United States, interviewed on The Benny Johnson Show
Asked by Benny Johnson for an update on claims that Rep. Ilhan Omar married her brother and committed immigration fraud, Vice President JD Vance said “we actually think that Ilhan Omar definitely committed immigration fraud against the United States of America.” He said he had talked to Stephen Miller about it, that the administration is trying to work out “the legal remedies now that we know that she’s committed immigration fraud,” and asked how to “build the case necessary to get some justice for the American people.” Vance did not mention the brother claim in this answer.
“Yeah, so we actually think that Ilhan Omar definitely committed immigration fraud against the United States of America. And I talked to Stephen Miller about this actually recently. We’re trying to look at what the remedies are. That’s the thing that we’re trying to figure out is what are the legal remedies now that we know that she’s committed immigration fraud? How do you go after her? How do you investigate her? How do you actually do the thing? How do you build the case necessary to get some justice for the American people?”
Original video
Reporting
Other statements by JD Vance in this case
- Vice President Vance says "we're going to see whether she did commit a crime"Later: Mixed or conditional
Where this statement fits
Should Trump administration officials publicly accuse Rep. Ilhan Omar of immigration fraud?
Since at least 2016 there have been unproven claims that Rep. Ilhan Omar’s 2009 husband, Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, is her brother. Senior Trump administration officials have repeated the claim publicly. This record begins with Vice President JD Vance’s March 27, 2026 statement that “we actually think that Ilhan Omar definitely committed immigration fraud,” and includes President Donald Trump’s May 1 statement, “I believe she married her brother.” On September 10, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said in a podcast interview, “we know that she married her brother to try to bring him in the United States,” and that an investigation was ongoing. On September 13, border czar Tom Homan declined to give specifics of an “ongoing criminal investigation” but said “no one’s above the law.” Omar has denied the claim: on September 16 she told a reporter “Absolutely not” and that she is not under investigation, and on September 18 Fox News Digital reported her saying DHS had not contacted her. Fox reported that there has been no public evidence available to confirm an open investigation into her.
Source and context
Original video
About this source
The Benny Johnson Show’s own upload of its interview with Vice President Vance, posted March 27, 2026. Johnson’s question about Omar comes at about 04:28, after a preview of the exchange at the start of the video. The recording date is not stated. The upload’s YouTube headline says Vance “announces” that Omar committed immigration fraud; this record quotes what Vance said.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Reporting
About this source
Fox News Digital’s live blog reports Vice President JD Vance’s claim and quotes an emailed statement from Connor McNutt, Rep. Ilhan Omar’s chief of staff, responding to it.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
Johnson said that the president and the White House had been saying that Omar married her brother and that there is immigration fraud, called these “deportable denaturalization offenses,” and asked Vance for an update.
After the quotation
Vance went on to say that Omar has been at the center of “a lot of the worst fraudsters” in the Somali community and that he is worried about “what did Ilhan Omar know about what was happening in the Somali community.” About whether Omar was aware that the Quality Learning Center was defrauding the American people, he said “I’m not certain of it, but we at least need to investigate it.” Two days after the interview was posted, Omar’s chief of staff called the claim “a ridiculous lie.”
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
Vance asserts the accusation as the administration’s view (“we actually think that Ilhan Omar definitely committed immigration fraud”), says the administration is working out how to “go after her” and “investigate her,” and speaks of building a case. That defends the accusation and its pursuit. The closest competing label is “Mixed or conditional”, because he begins with “we actually think” and speaks of a case still to be built; it loses because he goes on to state the conclusion without condition (“now that we know that she’s committed immigration fraud”).
- Recorded on
- Published here
- People and groups discussed
- Ilhan Omar
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The Dispute Index. "Vice President Vance says “we actually think that Ilhan Omar definitely committed immigration fraud”". First published: 2026-09-20. Last updated: 2026-09-22. https://disputeindex.com/events/1250-asked-by-benny-johnson-for-an-update-on