US federal agents have searched the Washington-area home of Ilhan Omar, the Democratic congresswoman from Minnesota, just over three weeks before the 3 November midterm elections. A Justice Department spokesperson said Homeland Security Investigations, part of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), carried out a judicially authorised search warrant as part of an ongoing federal investigation.
A person familiar with the case said it concerns alleged immigration fraud, including paperwork that Omar’s late father completed when she was a child. Omar, who was born in Somalia and is a naturalised US citizen, said the search was an attempt to target political enemies and turn federal law enforcement into a weapon. Tom Homan, the administration’s border chief, told Fox Business Network that the Justice Department is leading the investigation alongside the Department of Homeland Security, but declined to discuss its details.
Speaking outside a military air base before flying to a rally in Ohio, President Donald Trump said officials were looking at Omar “very carefully” and called her crooked. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, a Democrat, accused Trump of abusing his power to pursue political opponents weeks before an election. Justice Department policy bars timing actions to influence an election or help a candidate or party, and the department has historically avoided investigative steps against candidates within about 60 days of a vote.
Omar is running for re-election in a safe Democratic district that she won by 50 percentage points in 2024, while Trump’s Republican Party is defending narrow majorities in Congress. Trump has frequently attacked Omar and has portrayed Minnesota’s Somali American community as a threat, rhetoric that critics describe as anti-Somali and anti-Muslim. In February he said Omar and Michigan Democrat Rashida Tlaib should be “institutionalised”. Omar has called his focus on her an unhealthy obsession. Last week Trump also labelled Abdul El-Sayed, Michigan’s Democratic Senate nominee and a Muslim, an extremist, and backed his Republican opponent, Mike Rogers.
Omar has said she and her family receive death threats, which she attributes to hostile political rhetoric, particularly from Trump. Last month Anthony James Kazmierczak, a Minnesota man who squirted vinegar on her, was sentenced to one year and two months in prison after pleading guilty to assaulting a federal official. He said he targeted her because he disagreed with her progressive views.
