TEHRAN — U.S. federal agents with Homeland Security Investigations executed a search warrant early Monday morning at the Washington residence of Representative Ilhan Omar. Law enforcement personnel blocked off the surrounding street and removed multiple boxes labeled as “seized evidence” from the premises.
CBS News cited sources familiar with the case indicating that the Justice Department operation centers on decades-old immigration forms filed by Omar’s late father when her family arrived in the United States as refugees from Somalia.
The search took place 22 days before the U.S. midterm elections, violating longstanding Department of Justice guidelines that strictly discourage overt investigative steps against political figures within 60 days of a vote.
Critics argue the action demonstrates a direct weaponization of federal security institutions designed to influence the upcoming election and intimidate political opposition.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz condemned the raid, stating that Donald Trump is openly misusing executive power to target political adversaries.
Addressing the raid on social media, Omar confirmed her safety while confronting the administration’s actions directly.
She characterized the search as a calculated effort to target political enemies and weaponize law enforcement, noting that Trump has subjected her to baseless hostility for a decade.
She declared that state intimidation would not silence her. Her office formally labeled the operation an outrageous abuse of authority, reaffirming that the congresswoman has committed no legal violations.
Speaking to reporters before traveling to Ohio, Trump denied directing the search while launching sharp personal attacks against Omar.
He described her as “a terrible person” and asserted that her country of origin, Somalia, which he labelled a “non-country,” was plagued by crime and squalor.
These attacks form part of a documented, long-standing pattern of hostility, as Trump has spent months fixating on Omar in what she has described as “an unhealthy obsession,” from suggesting in February that she should be “institutionalized” to repeatedly demanding her deportation at political rallies.
Weeks prior to the search, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin publicly telegraphed the operation by declaring on television that an investigation was underway and warning that something was going to happen regarding her family background.
House Democratic leaders Hakeem Jeffries, Katherine Clark, and Pete Aguilar issued a joint statement calling the raid deeply disturbing and describing it as a rogue abuse of power.
Representative Rashida Tlaib publicly characterized the operation as a tactic typical of an authoritarian police state.
Meanwhile, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) condemned the search as blatant political persecution, pointing out the stark double standard in how federal agencies choose to allocate investigative resources.
This operation underscores a broader context of systemic Islamophobia and xenophobia within the U.S. political structure, where Muslim officials and anti-war advocates routinely face targeted hostility, as well as the growing use of state power to suppress dissent across the country.
As an outspoken critic of Washington’s foreign policy and military support for Israel, Omar has long been a central focus of attacks from the conservative political establishment and the pro-Israel lobby.
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