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The Department of Justice confirmed that Homeland Security Investigations agents carried out the search of Representative Ilhan Omar’s home in the Washington area early on October 12 after obtaining a judicially authorized warrant. A department spokesperson stated that the enforcement action formed part of an ongoing federal criminal investigation but declined to elaborate on its focus. Fox News Digital first reported the predawn operation and quoted the same Justice Department language while citing unnamed sources who tied the warrant to a fraud examination of immigration paperwork that Omar’s father completed when she entered the country as a child.
The New York Times reported that the warrant followed several months of Department of Homeland Security examination of Omar’s family immigration records together with separate looks at her campaign finances and contacts with a foreign national according to three people familiar with the matter who were not authorized to speak publicly. Reuters noted that the action occurred just weeks before the November 3 midterm elections during which Omar is seeking reelection to her Minnesota seat. The Guardian reported that video posted by Fox News showed law enforcement officers in HSI jackets at the property though neither Omar’s office nor federal agencies immediately responded to requests for comment.
Britannica’s biographical profile records that Omar was born in Mogadishu in 1982 the youngest of seven children lost her mother at age two and fled Somalia’s civil war with her family at age eight to spend four years in a Kenyan refugee camp before arriving in the United States in 1995. The family settled first in Virginia and later in Minneapolis where Omar learned English and eventually entered politics as a community organizer. BBC News reporting from 2019 described her as the first Somali-American elected to Congress after she won Minnesota’s Fifth District seat in 2018 following an earlier term in the state legislature.
Axios reported that the search represents a significant escalation in tensions between the Trump administration and the progressive Democrat who has criticized federal immigration policies in Minnesota. ABC News reported that border czar Tom Homan had confirmed the existence of an ongoing criminal probe involving Omar during a television appearance last month without providing further details at that time. Omar has previously denied any impropriety in her naturalization process according to statements carried across multiple outlets including The New York Times and has linked threats against her to political rhetoric from the president who has at times urged her to return to Somalia.
The Washington Examiner reported that the operation was directed by Homeland Security Investigations the primary criminal investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security rather than the FBI which typically leads many federal searches. Agents from the unit focus on transnational organizations that attempt to exploit immigration laws according to the agency’s own description of its work. It remained unclear whether Omar was present at the residence as Congress is currently in recess ahead of the approaching elections.
The New York Times noted that the timing falls within the traditional 60-day period before an election when the Justice Department has historically avoided investigative steps involving political candidates. Reuters added that Omar and Representative Rashida Tlaib of Michigan became the first Muslim women in Congress in 2019 and that both have drawn repeated criticism from the president including suggestions they should be institutionalized or sent back to where they came from. Omar continues to campaign for another term in a district that includes a sizable Somali-American population according to election coverage from several organizations.
