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WASHINGTON — “Squad” Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) defiantly broke her silence after a Homeland Security Investigations raid of her DC residence on Monday, as she and her allies claimed the action was part of President Trump’s repeated attempts to intimidate her as a political foe.
“I’m ok. Make no mistake: this is an attempt to target political enemies and weaponize federal law enforcement,” Omar said in a statement 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.”
“I will not be silenced,” the congresswoman added in a personal response to the president.
Democrats like fellow “Squad” Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) were quick to come to the congresswoman’s defense.
“DHS raiding a member of congress’s home is exactly what a fascist police state does,” Tlaib (D-Mich.) wrote in an X post.
Omar’s spokesperson Jacklyn Rogers also said that her boss had “done nothing wrong.”
“For a decade, Donald Trump has relentlessly targeted Congresswoman Ilhan Omar with inflammatory rhetoric, repeatedly putting a target on her back,” Rogers said. “Now, those attacks have escalated to a pointless federal raid.”
Homeland Security Investigations agents were observed carrying boxes of materials outside of the Democrat’s home in Northeast Washington on Monday after executing a search warrant in the early hours of the morning that spooked some of Omar’s neighbors.
One recounted hearing a “loud banging” on the “Squad” rep’s door at around 4 or 5 a.m., followed by “a man screaming, ‘Open the door, open the door.”
Sources familiar with the law enforcement action indicated that the congresswoman had been the subject of a multi-year probe related to her immigration history, potentially as a result of her father making a false statement on paperwork.
Omar could potentially face denaturalization — though the process would likely take years and prompt a legal challenge — if it’s determined that false statements were made on immigration forms.
Previously, Trump administration officials have suggested that the Minnesota Democrat was under investigation for allegedly fraudulently marrying her brother to help him obtain a green card.
Omar has repeatedly denied the allegations and never been charged with an immigration-related crime.
HSI, which is running the probe, is the main investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security.
Omar, 44, was born in Somalia and was granted US citizenship at the age of 17 in 2000.
She’s up for reelection on Nov. 3 for her fifth term in the US House.
