WASHINGTON: US authorities conducted a predawn raid Monday on the Washington-area home of Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar in a probe of the Somali-born lawmaker’s immigration paperwork, Fox News Digital reported, citing a source familiar with the move.
“Today in the Washington, D.C. area, Homeland Security Investigations executed a judicially authorized search warrant secured by the Department of Justice. This enforcement action is part of an ongoing federal investigation,” a Department of Justice spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
The news outlet reported that the raid followed a criminal fraud investigation into the Minnesota lawmaker’s paperwork, filled out by her late father when she was a child.
The Justice Department did not immediately return a request for comment. A representative for Omar did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Omar has been a frequent target of political insults from Republican President Donald Trump, who has cast the Somali American community as a threat to Minnesota in a burst of anti-Somali and anti-Muslim rhetoric.
‘Creepy obsession’
Omar, an outspoken critic of Trump, has called his focus on her an “unhealthy and creepy obsession.”
Last week, Trump called Democratic candidate for US Senate from Michigan Abdul El-Sayed, who is Muslim, a “RADICAL Extremist” and “Terrorist Sympathizer” while offering support for the Republican candidate, Mike Rogers.
Civil rights advocates have criticized the Republican president’s rhetoric towards minorities and immigrants, including when he previously called Somalis “garbage.”
Trump in February said that Omar and Democratic Representative Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, who is also Muslim, should be “institutionalized” and sent back to “where they came from.” Both lawmakers had criticized Trump during his State of the Union address as he touted his administration’s hard-line immigration crackdown and its immigration enforcement actions.
Last month, a Minnesota man who squirted vinegar on Omar was sentenced to one year and two months in prison after pleading guilty to assaulting a federal official. Anthony James Kazmierczak admitted to attacking Omar because he disagreed with her progressive political views.