US authorities raided the Washington-area home of Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar on Monday as part of an ongoing federal immigration investigation, the Justice Department said, less than a month before the November 3 midterm elections.
The Department of Justice said Homeland Security Investigations executed a judicially authorised search warrant secured by the department. It did not disclose the specific allegations under investigation.
The raid followed reports of a criminal fraud investigation into immigration paperwork belonging to Omar, a Somali-born US lawmaker. Fox News Digital reported that the documents had been completed by her late father when she was a child, citing unidentified sources.
The development comes as President Donald Trump’s Republican Party seeks to defend its narrow majorities in both chambers of Congress in the November 3 midterm elections.
Long-Running Feud With Trump
Omar, who represents Minnesota in the US House of Representatives, has been a frequent target of Trump’s criticism, particularly over her Somali heritage and her opposition to his administration’s immigration policies.
She has described Trump’s repeated focus on her as an “unhealthy and creepy obsession.”
Trump has also made critical remarks about the Somali American community in Minnesota, drawing condemnation from civil rights advocates over his rhetoric towards immigrants and minority groups.
In February, Trump said Omar and Democratic Representative Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, who is also Muslim, should be “institutionalized” and sent back to where they came from.
