Congresswoman Ilhan Abdullahi Omar has launched a scathing critique of former President Donald Trump over his renewed efforts to implement a travel ban that disproportionately targets citizens from predominantly Black and Brown nations.

The travel restrictions, which reportedly affect 19 countries, are being framed by the Trump camp as a national security measure.

But Omar, a Democratic representative from Minnesota’s 5th congressional district and one of the first Muslim women elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, sees the move as a continuation of Trump’s divisive and racially charged immigration agenda.

In a powerful statement posted online, Omar declared: “Donald Trump’s travel ban is shameful.”

Drawing parallels to Trump’s controversial 2017 executive order—widely dubbed the “Muslim ban”—Omar said this new policy again relies on “so-called national security justifications to prevent people they deem undesirable from entering the United States.”

“That means Muslims. That means Black and Brown people,” she wrote, directly calling out the racial undertones of the decision. Omar reminded the public of Trump’s past inflammatory remarks about immigrants, particularly when he questioned why the U.S. didn’t receive more people from Norway instead of from what he reportedly described as “shithole countries.”

“Now, he’s banning people from 19 Black and brown countries based solely on their nationality. It is racist, plain and simple,” she continued.

Omar didn’t mince words in criticizing the policy’s human cost.

“This discriminatory policy won’t make us safer, it will endanger lives and keep families apart.”

In a direct rebuke of the ideology she believes is driving these actions, Omar added: “Let me be clear: The United States has never been a white nationalist country, and no matter how much Donald Trump and Stephen Miller try, it never will be.”

She ended her statement with a firm pledge of resistance: “I will fight this decision every step of the way.”

Rep. Ilhan Omar has represented Minnesota’s 5th congressional district—covering Minneapolis and its inner suburbs—since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party and a vocal progressive, Omar previously served in the Minnesota House of Representatives. Her personal journey from Somali refugee to U.S. lawmaker has shaped her passionate defense of immigrant rights, religious freedom, and racial justice.