Nicki Minaj Isn’t a U.S. Citizen but Believes She Should Have “Honorary Citizenship”
The rapper moved to the U.S. from Trinidad and Tobago at age 5.
Published Dec. 22 2025, 3:42 p.m. ET
Rapper Nicki Minaj has been in the music business for so long that some forget her pioneering contributions to the hip-hop industry. She came into the game in the late 2000s, becoming one of the few female rappers in her generation, and the biggest by far. Over the years, Nicki has used her starpower to speak about things she's passionate about, including her political beliefs.
In December 2025, the "Beez In the Trap" rapper aligned herself with President Donald Trump and the Trump Administration, stating in a panel interview with Charlie Kirk's widow, Erika Kirk, at an event for her late husband, Charlie Kirk's organization, Turning Point USA, "I have the utmost respect and admiration for our president."
Nicki's affiliation with the right-wing party shocked many of her fans, namely her fans within the BIPOC and LGBTQ+ spaces. Some pointed out that the rapper aligned herself with the administration amid Trump's staunch immigration crackdown that has resulted in thousands of undocumented citizens being deported by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE). Even more remembered Nicki herself has admitted to not being a U.S. citizen.
Here's what she's said about her citizenship, or lack thereof.
Why isn't Nicki Minaj a U.S. citizen?
Most people who have listened to Nicki's music knows she represents her Trinidadian roots. Born Onika Tanya Maraj on Dec. 8, 1982, the rapper started her life in Saint James, Port of Spain Trinidad and Tobago. When she was 5, she and her family moved to the United States as illegal immigrants. Despite living in the U.S. for several decades, Nicki has yet to become a legal citizen.
Nicki opened up about her immigration status in September 2024 during a TikTok live session.
“I’m not a citizen of America," the rapper admitted. "Isn’t that crazy?"
In the same live, Nicki said she felt she was owed citizenship due to how much she money she's contributed to the country through taxes.
"I was born on a beautiful island called Trinidad and Tobago. But I’ve been in the States for many years. 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 has been vocal about her views on immigration in the past.
Although she isn't a U.S. citizen, Nicki has used her starpower to speak out against national and global issues, specifically ICE raids. According to People, in 2018, she opened up about her past alongside a 2015 photo of the cages at the processing detention centers run by the Department of Homeland Security, where children have been held since being forcibly removed from their parents who were caught crossing into America from the Mexican border under the Trump administration’s since-reversed “zero-tolerance” family separation policy.
"I can’t imagine the horror of being in a strange place and having my parents stripped away from me at the age of 5," Nicki wrote in a since-deleted Instagram post. "This is so scary to me. Please stop this. Can you try to imagine the terror and panic these kids feel right now? Not knowing if their parents are dead or alive, if they’ll ever see them again… ”
Although Nicki showed compassion for those affected by Trump's ICE raids during his first presidential term, she has said nearly the opposite since he was voted back into office in November 2024. During her interview with Erika Kirk, she said "it’s OK to change your mind."