Representative Nancy Mace, a Republican from South Carolina, sharply criticized fellow lawmaker Ilhan Omar on Thursday, telling the Minnesota Democrat that she “wouldn’t know the first thing about what’s best for Americans.”
The remark, posted on the social media platform X, came in direct response to Omar’s condemnation of a fatal shooting by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents during a raid in Minneapolis.
Omar, a Somali-American who represents Minnesota’s 5th District and is one of the first Muslim women in Congress, had described the ICE actions as “unconscionable and reprehensible.” She highlighted the death of Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old U.S. citizen and mother of three, who was shot while in her vehicle near the scene of an immigration operation on January 7.
“This is not law enforcement. It is state violence,” Omar wrote, blaming the Trump administration’s policies for escalating tensions.
Mace’s retort escalated a longstanding feud between the two lawmakers, who have clashed repeatedly over immigration and personal allegations.
Just two days earlier, on January 7, Mace announced during a House Oversight Committee hearing that she had moved to subpoena immigration records related to Omar and her former husband, Ahmed Nur Said Elmi. Mace cited longstanding, unproven allegations that Omar married Elmi—whom some critics claim is her brother—to facilitate his immigration to the United States.
“Federal marriage fraud and knowingly entering a marriage to evade immigration laws is a serious felony,” Mace posted on X, adding calls to “END THE FRAUD. DENATURALIZE AND DEPORT ILHAN OMAR.”
The committee ultimately tabled Mace’s motion, with members from both parties arguing it fell outside the panel’s jurisdiction. Omar has long denied the allegations, calling them baseless and rooted in racism and Islamophobia. Fact-checks and investigations have not substantiated the claims that Elmi is her brother.
The exchange unfolded against the backdrop of intensified immigration enforcement in Minneapolis under the Trump administration’s “Operation Metro Surge,” which has deployed hundreds of additional federal agents to the area.
Good’s death has sparked protests and drawn sharp criticism from local officials, who dispute federal accounts of the incident. The shooting is under FBI investigation.
