US agents raid Ilhan Omar's home weeks before midterm elections

US federal agents carried out a predawn raid on Monday on the Washington-area home of Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, one of President Donald Trump’s most outspoken critics, as part of what the Justice Department called an ongoing investigation.

“Today in the Washington, DC area, Homeland Security Investigations executed a judicially authorised search warrant secured by the Department of Justice. This enforcement action is part of an ongoing federal investigation,” a Justice Department spokesperson said, Reuters reported. Homeland Security Investigations is part of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The allegations

A person familiar with the investigation said it related to alleged immigration fraud, and that part of the probe concerns the Somali-born lawmaker’s immigration paperwork, which was filled out by her late father when she was a child. No charges against Omar were announced.

Tom Homan, the administration’s border czar, said an “investigation was ongoing for a while” and that “there was a warrant executed this morning”, but declined to give details, ARY News reported, citing AFP.

“Political intimidation”

Omar, 44, said she was “ok” but accused the administration of targeting political opponents three weeks before the November 3 midterm elections, in which she is seeking re-election.

“Make no mistake: this is an attempt to target political enemies and weaponize federal law enforcement,” she wrote on X. “For ten years, Trump has targeted me with baseless lies and smear campaigns. This is just the latest escalation in his campaign of political intimidation.”

Reaction split along party lines:

• Hakeem Jeffries, the top House Democrat, and his leadership team called the raid “deeply disturbing”
• Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said: “President Trump is abusing his power to go after political opponents weeks before an election”
• Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace said Omar should be stripped of her citizenship and deported if fraud was proven
• Xochitl Hinojosa, a former Justice Department public affairs director, said there was “a longstanding rule at DOJ that you don’t take overt actions like this before an election”

The timing

Justice Department policy bars prosecutors and agents from timing any action to affect an election, and the department has historically avoided investigative steps against candidates within about 60 days of a vote, Reuters reported. Omar represents a safe Democratic seat that she won by 50 percentage points in 2024.

During Trump’s second term, the Justice Department has investigated or charged a range of his perceived opponents, including former FBI Director James Comey, New York Attorney General Letitia James and former national security adviser John Bolton.

A target of Trump’s rhetoric

Omar came to the US from Somalia as a child and represents a district that includes Minneapolis, home to one of the largest Somali communities in the country. Trump has cast the Somali American community as a threat to Minnesota and once called Somalis “garbage”. In February, he said Omar and Rashida Tlaib, also a Muslim lawmaker, should be “institutionalised” and sent back to “where they came from”.

Omar has said she and her family have faced death threats, which she blames on “hateful political rhetoric”. Last month, a Minnesota man who squirted vinegar on her was jailed for one year and two months.

Why it matters

Omar is one of the most prominent Muslim voices in American politics. Civil rights advocates have long criticised Trump’s rhetoric towards minorities and immigrants, and a raid on her home so close to an election leaves the Justice Department with questions to answer about its timing. Read our report on Trump’s decision against attacking Iran before the midterms.

This article draws on reporting by Reuters, ARY News and AFP.