Vance calls Omar case “fishy” as DOJ reviews

Vance calls – Vice President JD Vance said Rep. Ilhan Omar’s immigration-fraud case “certainly seems like something fishy” as the White House’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud examines potential schemes. Vance also argued that the Biden administration allowed the asylum and r

Vice President JD Vance didn’t wait long to frame the investigation. In a White House press conference Tuesday, he filled in for press secretary Karoline Leavitt and, when asked about Rep. Ilhan Omar’s immigration fraud allegations, said “something fishy is there.”

The question came during Vance’s appearance under a specific mandate: President Donald Trump put Vance at the helm of The Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a group investigating potential schemes aimed at taking advantage of the government.

Reagan Reese, The Daily Caller‘s White House correspondent, asked Vance whether the task force’s work signals an indictment. “You previously mentioned that Ilhan Omar seemed to have committed immigration fraud,” Reese said. “Do you anticipate an indictment against her, an indictment related to that situation?”.

Vance answered without promising a legal outcome. “Yes, so, Reagan, I don’t want to prejudge an investigation,” he said. “I mean. you read the things about Ilhan Omar and about who she married and whether she didn’t marry this person or that person. It certainly seems like something fishy is there, but everybody’s entitled to equal justice under the laws. So, we’re going to investigate it. We’re going to take a look at it. If we think it is a crime, we’re going to prosecute that crime. That’s something that the Department of Justice is looking at right now.”.

Omar has been at the center of Republican scrutiny over allegations of immigration fraud. The claims include whether she defrauded the government by marrying her brother to gain his residency in the U.S. questions about her family finances. and her connection to a COVID-era welfare fraud scheme. Omar has denied the allegations and told Republicans to investigate “whatever you want. ” while also slamming what she calls racist attacks on the Somali community in her state.

Trump has repeatedly called for Omar to be sent home and has said he doesn’t want Somalis in the U.S.

Reese then asked Vance whether, based on what he’s seen working the fraud task force, anything should change in U.S. immigration or refugee policies to stop fraud.

Vance pointed his criticism squarely at the asylum and refugee process. “Well. yeah. I mean look. one thing I’d say is that the biggest immigration fraud that existed under the Biden administration is not just that they let a flood of people across the southern border. that was obviously a very major problem. and something I’m proud of the president for stopping. ” he said. “but it’s also that they allowed the asylum and refugee claimant process to become totally fraudulent.”.

He laid out what he described as how that system could be exploited: “Here’s what would happen … You would take a person who in normal cases would just be a traditional economic immigrant. whether you let them into the country or not. they’re trying to come because they want a better job. Okay. they would come into the country and say that they were fleeing persecution. and they would say that they were an asylum claimant.”.

In Vance’s account. once someone is labeled an asylum claimant. the process gives them a path into the interior of the country. “And then effectively. what the Biden administration would do is say. ‘Okay. you’re an asylee. go into the interior of the country. Here’s a work permit. maybe come back in 10 or 12 years for your hearing on whether you actually have a legitimate asylum claim.’ So what does that mean?. That meant that person was just completely given amnesty and released into the interior of the country.”.

Vance then argued the system did not sufficiently check whether claims were legitimate. “Well, what if that person was a criminal?. What if that person actually had a violent history?” he said. “We didn’t do any of the work necessary to ensure that the people coming into our country claiming to be asylum claimants actually had anything legitimate or anything good in their background.”.

He said the Trump administration has fixed “that loophole,” while warning it will not stay closed unless it’s enforced. “So, that is a serious problem. It is something that we have fixed in the Trump administration,” Vance said. “But fundamentally. that loophole. you’re going to see sometime in the future. somebody is going to try to exploit that loophole. And it’s one of the things that we’re very focused on in the fraud task force is making sure that the people who exploited that loophole are actually prosecuted for it. assuming they committed a crime.”.

At the center of the day’s exchange was a simple message with heavy implications: the White House’s fraud task force is looking into Omar’s case. the Justice Department is where any prosecution would land. and Vance is betting the question that matters most is not whether accusations exist. but whether they can be proven.

JD Vance Ilhan Omar immigration fraud The Task Force to Eliminate Fraud Department of Justice asylum refugee claimant process Donald Trump Karoline Leavitt Reagan Reese