<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><span class="section-lead">Federal officers raided</span> Minnesota Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar’s home early Monday morning, reportedly related to an investigation into the lawmaker’s immigration paperwork, filed by a relative when Omar was a child.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The search was conducted by Homeland Security Investigations, a branch of the Department of Homeland Security that manages criminal investigations, and, according to a Justice Department spokesperson, “executed a judicially authorized search warrant” the agency secured. An anonymous source reportedly alleged to <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/rep-ilhan-omar-home-searched-federal-agents-criminal-probe-dhs-rcna602950">NBC News</a> that the raid was part of a yearslong investigation involving whistleblowers. CNN also reported that a federal judge <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2026/10/12/politics/ilhan-omar-search">approved</a> the search warrant but did not name the judge.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">White House border czar Tom Homan, the acting head of ICE, <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/homan-confirms-criminal-investigation-involving-ilhan-omar-says-knows-things-going">stated on Fox News</a> last month that Homeland Security was investigating Omar for alleged unspecified “criminal” conduct, but claimed he couldn’t “give the specifics of what’s happening.”</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“If someone committed an immigration violation, if someone committed marriage fraud or anything like that, regardless if they’re a congressman or not, no one’s above the law,” Homan said at the time. “So, I’ll leave it at that. We’ll let HSI, Homeland Security Investigations, continue the investigation.”</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">In a Monday morning Fox interview, Homan <a href="https://youtu.be/EN1BIwuKA5M?si=P764Goyy8fMJ_jca&t=233">confirmed</a> that the search had taken place.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Omar immigrated to the US from Somalia in 1995, when she was 12, amid the ongoing civil war in the country. She became a naturalized US citizen in 2000. President Donald Trump and his administration have regularly <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/07/trumps-rally-seals-it-send-her-back-is-the-official-position-of-the-gop/">racially</a> <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/12/ilhan-omar-says-ice-pulled-over-her-son-in-minnesota-asked-for-id/">targeted</a> <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/01/trump-ilhan-omar-attack-minneapolis-reaction/">Omar</a>—a <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2020/10/ocasio-cortez-ilhan-omar-twitch/">progressive Democrat</a> and <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/02/ilhan-omar-to-trump-you-have-killed-americans/">frequent critic</a> of the administration’s policies—fueling further <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/07/ocasio-cortez-gretna-police-fired/">violent threats</a> against her and other lawmakers of color, and people from Somalia living <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/01/tim-walz-scandal-minnesota-social-services/">in Minnesota</a>.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Trump and other White House officials have <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/01/trump-minneapolis-twin-cities-tyranny-boston-massacre-british-colonial-occupation-violence-revolution/">repeatedly cited</a> the Feeding Our Future fraud scandal that involved members of the state’s Somali American community to justify the mass violence by immigration officers in the area as part of ICE’s <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/06/hrw-human-rights-watch-metro-surge-ice-cbp-report-crisis/">Operation Metro Surge</a> in late 2025.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The timing of the raid on Omar’s Washington-area home—22 days before the November midterms, in which she is a heavy favorite for reelection—adds additional scrutiny, as <a href="https://www.justice.gov/jm/jm-9-85000-protection-government-integrity#9-85.500">Justice Department policy</a> prohibits federal prosecutors and agents from timing investigations or charges to affect election outcomes. While not a binding rule, the Justice Department has historically complied by pausing all related actions <a href="https://abcnews.com/Politics/dojs-60-day-rule-role-play-trump-trial/story?id=107789927">in the 60 days</a> before an election. (Trump and the wider MAGA movement have <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/05/donald-trump-firing-james-comey-investigation-fbi-russia/">repeatedly</a> <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/09/comey-indictment-problem-fbi-trump-revenge/">targeted</a> former FBI head James Comey, and that agency as a whole, in part over the timing and supposed political motivations <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/04/exhaustive-history-donald-trump-russia-scandal-timeline/">of the FBI’s own investigations</a> under Comey into both Trump and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.)</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“Americans see this for what it is,” Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat who the Trump administration has <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/01/tim-walz-scandal-minnesota-social-services/">also targeted</a>, <a href="https://x.com/GovTimWalz/status/2109654752007245880">wrote</a> on social media. “President Trump is abusing his power to go after political opponents weeks before an election.”</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“I’m ok. Make no mistake: this is an attempt to target political enemies and weaponize federal law enforcement,” Omar <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/ilhanmn.bsky.social/post/3mxovcjvoyk24">posted on social media</a> Monday afternoon. “This is just the latest escalation in his campaign of political intimidation. I will not be silenced.”</p>