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Nicki Minaj is back in the headlines after publicly showing her support for Donald Trump and appearing at the Trump Accounts Summit, where she praised the president and backed his administration’s new savings initiative. The moment reignited online discussion — not just about her political views, but about her own background.
Minaj has long spoken about immigrating to the United States as a child, which has led some fans to revisit questions about where she was born, how she came to America, and her immigration status. So, is Nicki Minaj an immigrant?
Learn about Minaj’s residency status and her background below.
Didn’t have a clue. Carry on. https://t.co/k4D0d9ZXdt
— Nicki Minaj (@NICKIMINAJ) December 21, 2025
Is Nicki Minaj an Immigrant?
Yes, Minaj was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. She grew up in Sant James with her grandmother when her mother, Carol, obtained her green card and moved to The Bronx, New York. Eventually, Minaj joined her mom in New York, settling down in South Jamaica, Queens.
She once called on Trump to handle the border crisis in 2018 when children of immigrants were being separated from their families.
“I came to this country as an illegal immigrant @ 5 years old,” the “Bang Bang” rapper wrote in a since-deleted Instagram post. “I can’t imagine the horror of being in a strange place & having my parents stripped away from me at the age of 5.”
She added, “This is so scary to me. Please stop this. Can you try to imagine the terror & panic these kids feel right now? Not knowing if their parents are dead or alive, if they’ll ever see them again…”
Is Nicki Minaj an Undocumented Immigrant?
In 2024, Minaj said she was undocumented during a TikTok Livestream. “I’m not a citizen of America. Isn’t that crazy?” she said during the stream. The “Starships” artist added that she believed she deserved “honorary citizenship” because she paid “millions of dollars” in taxes.
“I was born on a beautiful island called Trinidad and Tobago. But I’ve been in the States for many years,” Minaj said. “You would think that with the millions of dollars that I’ve paid in taxes to this country that I would have been given an honorary citizenship many, many, many thousands of years ago.”
Nicki Minaj’s Political Views Explained
Minaj has become a vocal supporter of Trump and Vice President JD Vance. While speaking at the Turning Point USA “AmericaFest” event in December 2025, Minaj gushed about the Trump administration having “heart and soul.”
“This administration is full of people with heart and soul, and they make me proud of them,” she said. “Our vice president, he makes me … well, I love both of them. Both of them have a very uncanny ability to be someone that you relate to.”
Previously, however, Minaj was not a major Trump supporter. During a 2015 interview with Billboard, Minaj was critical of the president’s rhetoric, calling it “childish,” but she still called him “hilarious” in “terms of entertainment.”
“There are points he has made that may not have been so horrible if his approach wasn’t so childish. But in terms of entertainment — I think he’s hilarious,” she said at the time. “I wish they could just film him running for president. That’s the ultimate reality show.”
