Federal agents from Homeland Security Investigations raided the Washington, DC, home of US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar on Monday on suspicion of immigration fraud, according to Fox News Digital and confirmed by US border czar Tom Homan. The Department of Justice was also involved in the pre-dawn operation.
Omar, a Minnesota Democrat and the first hijab-wearing Muslim to serve in the federal legislative branch, posted on X several hours after the raid that officers carried boxes and electronic devices from her home. "Make no mistake: this is an attempt to target political enemies and weaponize federal law enforcement," she wrote. "For ten years, Trump has targeted me with baseless lies and smear campaigns. This is just the latest escalation in his campaign of political intimidation. I will not be silenced."
According to Fox News Digital, citing unnamed sources, the raid stems from a criminal fraud investigation into immigration paperwork filled out by Omar's now-deceased father decades ago when she was a child. Omar came to the US as a refugee in 1995 and has been a US citizen for nearly three decades.
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly called for investigations into whether Omar is a lawful citizen and claimed she married her own brother for immigration purposes. Omar has denied these allegations. Trump targeted her with harsh rhetoric about Somali immigrants during his second term, stating "Their country stinks, and we don't want them in our country."
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow with the American Immigration Council, noted that Section 212(k) of the US Immigration and Nationality Act allows immigrants who obtained status through fraud they were unaware of to avoid consequences. He said "the government's argument is even weaker than it already seems."
Democratic lawmakers condemned the action. California Congressman Ro Khanna said on X the raid was "chilling" and "disturbing that they are targeting Muslim Americans and a Muslim-American woman legislator." Washington Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal called the situation "disgusting" and accused Trump of being "obsessed with attacking Ilhan Omar and the entire Somali American population for years."
The raid occurred less than a month before midterm elections. The DOJ typically avoids such moves close to elections due to optics concerns, citing the precedent of FBI Director James Comey's 2016 investigation into Hillary Clinton's email server days before that election.