{"id":653215,"date":"2026-10-13T07:28:13","date_gmt":"2026-10-13T07:28:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/653215\/"},"modified":"2026-10-13T07:28:13","modified_gmt":"2026-10-13T07:28:13","slug":"ilhan-omar-us-immigration-authorities-raid-democratic-congresswomans-home-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/653215\/","title":{"rendered":"Ilhan Omar: US immigration authorities raid Democratic congresswoman\u2019s home \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

US authorities conducted a predawn raid on Monday on the Washington-area home of Democratic<\/a> US Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, an outspoken critic of Donald Trump<\/a> \u200bwho has been the target of political insults by the Republican<\/a> president, as part of a continuing investigation, the US justice department said.<\/p>\n

A person familiar with the investigation said it is related to alleged immigration fraud, and part of the inquiry concerns the Somali-born politician\u2019s immigration paperwork, which was filled out by her late father when she was a child.<\/p>\n

Omar wrote in a social media post that the US government is being weaponised to target a political enemy of the president.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor ten years, Trump has targeted me with baseless lies and smear campaigns,\u201d Omar said. \u201cThis is just the latest escalation in his campaign of political intimidation. I will not be silenced.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other Democrats accused Trump and his administration of abuse of power. Omar (44), \u200bis seeking a fifth two-year term in the US House of Representatives in the midterm elections on November 3rd.<\/p>\n

In announcing the raid, a justice department spokesperson said: \u201cToday in the Washington, DC area, Homeland Security Investigations executed a judicially authorized search warrant secured \u200bby the Department of Justice. This enforcement action is part of an ongoing federal investigation,\u201d a US justice department spokesperson said in an email.<\/p>\n

Homeland Security Investigations is part of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice).<\/p>\n

Tom Homan, the Trump administration\u2019s \u201cborder tsar\u201d, told Fox Business Network that the justice department is leading the investigation with \u200cthe \u200cdepartment \u200bof homeland security. Homan declined to get into the specifics of an ongoing criminal investigation.<\/p>\n

\"HomelandHomeland security investigations police search the home of Ilhan Omar in Washington. Photograph: Andrew Leyden\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

Homeland security secretary Markwayne Mullin, a Trump appointee, said last month that \u201csomething\u2019s gonna happen\u201d in the investigation into Omar\u2019s family\u2019s entry into the United States.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we can prove that you shouldn\u2019t have been here in the first place, we\u2019ll deport you,\u201d \u2060Mullin told conservative podcaster Benny Johnson at the time.<\/p>\n

The raid was carried out a little more than three weeks before the midterm elections, when Trump\u2019s party will be trying to defend its narrow majorities in the US Congress. Omar, \u2060a prominent progressive who is running for reelection, represents a safe Democratic \u200bdistrict. She won reelection in 2024 by a margin of 50 percentage points.<\/p>\n

In a joint statement, US House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries and other members of the party\u2019s leadership in the chamber said the \u200craid was \u201cdeeply disturbing and raises serious questions about the\u201d weaponisation of the federal government against \u200bTrump\u2019s enemies.<\/p>\n

Republicans have \u201crelentlessly targeted\u201d Omar, said Jeffries, joined by Representatives Katherine Clark and Pete Aguilar. Trump\u2019s \u201cmass deportation machine has descended upon the home of a duly elected Member of Congress and her family,\u201d they added, and they \u2060said they would \u201cdeliver full accountability\u201d for what they called a \u201crogue abuse of power.\u201d<\/p>\n

Minnesota Democrats \u200balso condemned the raid.<\/p>\n

\u201cAmericans see this for what it is,\u201d Minnesota governor Tim Walz<\/a>, a Democrat, wrote on social media. \u201cPresident Trump is abusing his power to go after political opponents weeks before an \u200celection.\u201d<\/p>\n

Justice department policy bars federal prosecutors and agents from timing any action \u200bto affect the outcome of any election or benefiting a candidate or political party. The department has historically avoided taking investigative steps against political candidates within about 60 days \u2060of an election.<\/p>\n

The US justice department during Trump\u2019s second term \u2060in office has investigated and brought charges against \u200ba range of Trump\u2019s perceived political enemies.<\/p>\n

It has charged former FBI Director James Comey, New York state attorney general Letitia James and Trump\u2019s former national security adviser turned critic John Bolton. It also has investigated Democratic politicians who urged the US military not to follow illegal orders, Democratic senator Adam Schiff and Federal Reserve officials Jerome Powell and Lisa Cook.<\/p>\n

The case against James and one of two brought against Comey were thrown out by a federal judge. Bolton pleaded guilty and is scheduled to be sentenced later this month. Grand juries and federal judges have stymied several other probes.<\/p>\n

Omar has faced political insults from Trump, who has cast the Somali American community as a threat to Minnesota in a burst of anti-Somali and anti-Muslim rhetoric. Omar has called Trump\u2019s focus on her an \u201cunhealthy and creepy obsession.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last week, \u200cTrump called Michigan\u2019s Democratic nominee for US Senate \u2013 \u2060Abdul El-Sayed, who is Muslim \u2013 a \u201cRADICAL Extremist\u201d and \u201cTerrorist Sympathizer\u201d while offering support for El-Sayed\u2019s Republican opponent, Mike Rogers.<\/p>\n

Civil rights advocates have criticised Trump\u2019s rhetoric toward minorities and immigrants, including when he previously called Somalis \u201cgarbage\u201d.<\/p>\n

In February Trump said Omar and Democratic representative Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, who is also Muslim, should be \u201cinstitutionalised\u201d and \u200csent back to \u201cwhere they came from\u201d. Both had criticised Trump during his State of the Union address as he touted his administration\u2019s hardline immigration crackdown and its immigration enforcement actions.<\/p>\n

Omar has said she and her family \u200bhave faced death threats, which she attributes to \u201chateful political rhetoric,\u201d especially from Trump.<\/p>\n

Last month, a Minnesota man who squirted vinegar on \u200bOmar<\/a> was sentenced to one year and two months in prison after pleading guilty to assaulting a federal official. Anthony James Kazmierczak admitted to attacking Omar because he disagreed with her progressive political views. \u2013 Reuters<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Keith Duggan: \u2018He\u2019s supposed to be president\u2019: Minneapolis reacts to Trump commentsOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"US authorities conducted a predawn raid on Monday on the Washington-area home of Democratic US Representative Ilhan Omar…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":653216,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[14843,42,43,16621,40,38,41,39,90],"class_list":["post-653215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-democratic-party","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-republican-party","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-us"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/653215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=653215"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/653215\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/653216"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=653215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=653215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=653215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}