Federal agents search Rep. Ilhan Omar’s home in immigration-fraud raid as she calls it political intimidation

Federal agents searched Rep. Ilhan Omar’s Washington, D.C. home in a predawn raid that the Justice Department says was conducted under a judicially authorized search warrant. Omar, a Minnesota Democrat, calls the search politically motivated, the latest move in what she describes as a decade-long campaign of intimidation by President Donald Trump.

Agents arrived at around 4:30 a.m. on Monday, according to Omar’s neighbor, 79-year-old Sharon Jackson, who said she was awoken by loud knocking and saw vans and agents wearing gloves walking to and from the congresswoman’s house. Homeland Security Investigations agents executed the warrant, which the DOJ stated was judicially authorized as part of an ongoing federal investigation into alleged immigration fraud. Current and former federal officials with knowledge of the search, who were not authorized to speak publicly, confirmed details of the operation. The multi-year probe includes whistleblower complaints and focuses on allegations of immigration fraud, those officials said.

Omar, an American citizen who left Somalia as a refugee, said on social media that Trump has targeted her for 10 years with smear campaigns and that the U.S. government is being weaponized to target a political enemy of the president. She described herself as one of the president’s “political enemies” and vowed not to be silenced. “This is just the latest escalation in his campaign of political intimidation. I will not be silenced,” Omar said.

Trump targets Omar at Ohio rally

The night before the search, Trump rallied supporters in Youngstown, Ohio, where he singled Omar out by name and pointed to Somalia, where she was born. “She comes from one of the worst countries anywhere on the planet. What a mess they have done — Somalia,” Trump said. The crowd of Republican supporters chanted “Deport, deport.” Trump urged supporters to vote Republican “if you want to stop Ohio from being plundered, ransacked and destroyed like Minnesota’s being destroyed.” Ohio GOP gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and GOP Sen. Jon Husted appeared alongside Trump at the rally. Trump says he is not involved in the investigation into Omar, who represents Minnesota’s fifth congressional district.

Democrats raise alarm over weaponization

House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries and other members of the party’s leadership in the chamber said the raid was “deeply disturbing and raises serious questions” about weaponization of the federal government against Trump’s enemies. Vice President JD Vance previously accused Omar of immigration fraud, which she denies. Part of the probe concerns immigration paperwork filled out by Omar’s late father when she was a child, according to a person familiar with the investigation.