Several news outlets have falsely reported that Somaliland’s government called for the extradition of US Representative Ilhan Omar, basing their stories on a post from an X account that does not represent the state. Fox News, the New York Post, Sinclair Broadcast Group’s the National News Desk and the Independent ran stories centred on a post by @RepOfSomaliland reacting to claims by Vice President JD Vance that Omar had committed immigration fraud.
The account is not an official government channel, and Somaliland’s foreign ministry had publicly stated this in December, saying it had begun identifying social media accounts that are not official government channels. In a statement to the Guardian on Monday, the ministry advised that news should be referenced solely from official and authorised channels to ensure accuracy.
Fox News later issued a quiet correction, acknowledging the account was not a verified government outlet and revising its headline to: “Pro-Somaliland account backs extraditing Ilhan Omar after Vance fraud claim.” The post was a reaction to an interview Vance gave to conservative influencer Benny Johnson on 28 March, in which he claimed Omar had “definitely committed immigration fraud”.
Vance said he had discussed potential legal action with Stephen Miller, the White House immigration adviser, adding: “We’re trying to figure out what the legal remedies are – how do you go after her, how do you investigate her, how do you build a case necessary to get some justice for the American people?” Omar’s chief of staff, Connor McNutt, dismissed the accusations as “a ridiculous lie and desperate attempt to distract”.
Somaliland is a self-declared republic in the Horn of Africa that broke away from Somalia in 1991. Though it has maintained relative stability, it remains unrecognised by the international community. The reports spread against a backdrop of escalating rhetoric from the White House targeting Minnesota’s Somali community and Somalia.
Omar, who arrived in the US as a refugee aged 12 and became a citizen at 17, warned in a Guardian interview in December that Trump’s rhetoric was fuelling a climate of political violence. “We’ve had people incarcerated for threatening to kill me,” she said, adding that her concern extended to anyone “who looks like me in Minneapolis”.
