Key takeaways:
- Homeland Security Investigations executed a Justice Department-secured search warrant at Omar’s Washington home.
- CBS News reported that the investigation centers on Omar’s immigration paperwork.
- Omar has denied allegations about her family’s immigration history and said in September that investigators had not contacted her.
Federal agents searched Rep. Ilhan Omar’s Washington, D.C., home before dawn Monday as part of an ongoing criminal investigation, according to CBS News and The Guardian. The search brings federal investigators to the residence of a Minnesota Democrat whom President Donald Trump and senior administration officials have repeatedly accused of immigration fraud. Omar has denied the allegations.
The Justice Department said Homeland Security Investigations, or HSI, executed a search warrant secured by the department as “part of an ongoing federal criminal investigation.” CBS News reported, citing three people familiar with the investigation, that it centers on Omar’s immigration paperwork and that the Justice Department is assisting HSI.
The Guardian reported that the nature of the warrant was unclear. Fox News, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter, reported that agents were examining immigration paperwork Omar’s father completed when she was a child, according to The Guardian. Neither Omar’s office, the Justice Department, the Department of Homeland Security nor the White House immediately responded to The Guardian’s requests for comment.
Trump and his allies have long raised allegations about Omar’s family immigration history. Among them is an unsubstantiated claim that her former husband, Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, is her brother and that she married him to help him obtain immigration status. Omar has consistently denied that allegation and other claims about her family, The Guardian reported. She and Elmi formally divorced in 2017 after separating in a religious divorce years earlier, according to The Guardian.
Administration officials have discussed an investigation publicly for months. In September, border czar Tom Homan told Fox News there was an “ongoing criminal investigation” into Omar, CBS News reported. “I said months ago that there’s something that’s been reported and needs to be looked at,” Homan said. Omar said at the time that she had not been contacted in connection with any investigation.
The Guardian reported that in March, Vice President JD Vance told media personality Benny Johnson, “We actually think that Ilhan Omar definitely committed immigration fraud,” and said he had discussed possible remedies with Trump aide Stephen Miller. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told Johnson last month that an investigation was underway and “something’s going to happen,” according to The Guardian.
At a rally Saturday, Trump again singled out Omar, saying Vance “and our people are looking at it very strongly,” The Guardian reported. Trump has also said Omar “should be thrown the hell out of our country,” the outlet reported, citing remarks he made in December.
Omar, who became one of the first two Muslim women elected to Congress in 2019 alongside Rep. Rashida Tlaib, has been a frequent target of Trump’s criticism. The search comes three weeks before the midterm Election Day, The Guardian reported. The Justice Department’s statement did not identify any charge against Omar.
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