Federal authorities searched the D.C. home of Rep. Ilhan Omar on Monday morning, a person familiar with the matter said, intensifying long-standing immigration-related accusations from Republicans regarding the nation’s first Somali American lawmaker.
Homeland Security Investigations, the investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security, executed the search. The Justice Department confirmed that it secured a court-authorized warrant for a law enforcement action Monday morning.
“Today in the Washington, D.C. area, Homeland Security Investigations executed a judicially authorized search warrant secured by the Department of Justice. This enforcement action is part of an ongoing federal criminal investigation,” the Justice Department statement said, without naming Omar.
The department did not confirm what investigation the search was connected to. Last month, U.S. officials said federal authorities were investigating whether Omar unlawfully entered the country by falsifying her immigration paperwork.
For years, allegations have circulated in conservative circles about Omar’s immigration history, though federal officials who have promoted the allegations have not provided substantiating evidence.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin last month said that “something’s going to happen” and that there is an “ongoing investigation.” Mullin told conservative commentator Benny Johnson, without providing evidence, “There may be more to this, the whole family migration and possibly some illegal activity for them to come to the United States to begin with. … If we can prove it that you shouldn’t have been here in the first place, we’ll deport you.”
Omar and her team have repeatedly denied this accusation. Omar’s team did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday morning.
Asked by Fox News on Sept. 13 whether an investigation of Omar has been opened, White House border czar Tom Homan said that “things are going on,” adding, “Look, I said months ago that it’s something that’s been reported and it needs to be looked at.” But he declined to give specifics.
Omar has faced many personal attacks, including from President Donald Trump, who in December called her “garbage” and said she must get “the hell out” of the country. Trump increased direct attacks against the congresswoman as a fraud scandal implicated dozens of Somalis in her state, prompting a Trump administration immigration crackdown. Omar was not accused of any wrongdoing in the scandal.
In January, a man used a syringe to spray a liquid at her during a town hall meeting, which authorities later said was apple cider vinegar. “Every time the president of the United States has chosen to use hateful rhetoric to talk about me and the community that I represent, my death threats skyrocket,” Omar said.
On Sept. 24, Homeland Security issued a statement calling on politicians to “stop violent rhetoric against ICE” and included a speech by Omar in which she called for the abolishment of ICE on a list of “some of the most egregious examples of hateful rhetoric.”
Omar is up for reelection in November after winning the Democratic primary in her district. In the 60 days before an election, the Justice Department enters a “blackout” period, during which the department typically refrains from taking public steps in politically related cases — such as executing a search warrant or indicting someone — that could be perceived as politically motivated and could affect the results of the election.
The department is not legally mandated to follow the 60-day blackout period, and it is unclear whether the Justice Department opted not to follow it or felt that it did not apply in this instance because HSI executed the warrant that the Justice Department secured.
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