Ilhan Omar Says Agents 'Folded Her Clothes' in Dawn Raid; Now She Must Leave Home

Representative Ilhan Omar says she can no longer live in her Washington home, telling an interviewer that death threats since federal agents searched the property this month have made it unsafe for her family. The raid was part of a federal investigation into alleged fraud in her immigration and citizenship records.

The Minnesota Democrat gave her first detailed account of the 12 October search on 21 October, speaking to Chris Hayes on MS NOW. She said Homeland Security Investigations agents began pounding on the front and back doors at about 6 a.m., while she, her husband, Tim Mynett, and their 20-year-old son were inside.

Omar said she had landed from a trip only hours earlier and was asleep when the knocking began. At first she thought the house was on fire. 'You don't show up to somebody's house that early in the morning unless you're trying to freak them out,' she said.

Inside the Early-Morning Search

She estimated that between 15 and 25 agents worked through the house room by room over four to five hours and seized 17 items, including old phones, a vintage camera, a Somali-language book, and notebooks. She said she was unable to reach her lawyer for about an hour.

The search was intrusive, she said, but she described the officers as 'decent'. They had done a 'really good job' of putting everything back in place, she said, even folding some of her clothing.

Even so, the family cannot stay. 'Obviously, I can't continue to live there,' Omar told Hayes, citing death threats and her publicly available address.

What Investigators Are Examining

The Justice Department has not said what it is examining, and the Associated Press has called the scope unclear, pointing to possible fraud in Omar's immigration paperwork. The Wall Street Journal has reported that investigators are looking at how she gained citizenship in 2000, including whether her age was altered on the application. Both Trump and Vance have denied any involvement in the investigation.

Vice President JD Vance has separately revived a long-running claim that Omar's 2009 marriage was to a man some critics say is her brother, an allegation she denies. Asked by Hayes whether she was related to the man, she replied, 'Not to my knowledge.'

The Associated Press, citing a person briefed on the matter, reported that federal authorities had issued more than a dozen grand jury subpoenas, some to her relatives. She has not been charged.

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin called the inquiry a 'strong case' during a 16 October appearance on the Charlie Kirk Show, saying a judge had signed off and multiple warrants had been served. 'We had a judge sign it, and we expect to be able to take the case to a grand jury,' Mullin said.

Jeanine Pirro, the US Attorney for the District of Columbia, has said Omar's finances are also under scrutiny, telling Fox News there are 'several investigations going on.' Omar has said she takes the possibility of losing her citizenship very seriously.

Omar has tied the investigation to President Donald Trump, a critic who has long called for her deportation. 'The people who knocked at my door searching for papers literally have his papers,' she said, a reference to her late father's immigration records.

At a rally in Youngstown, Ohio, on 12 October, Trump questioned Omar's Somali background, saying she had come from 'a country without laws, without police, without military' and calling her 'a disaster'. On 13 October, he called her a 'terrible person' and would not say whether he wanted her deported.

The search came three weeks before the 3 November midterm elections, which will decide control of Congress. Omar, first elected in 2018, is seeking re-election in a Minneapolis district and is expected to win.

Omar is 'confident that I didn't do anything wrong. Ultimately, their goal is to intimidate and scare people from wanting to participate and vote,' she said.