New Details on Ilhan Omar Raid

Federal agents conducted a court-authorized search of U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar’s Washington, D.C., home on Monday, October 12.

Homeland Security Investigations agents seized electronic devices including her cellphone and personal computers, along with her passport and notebooks.

Omar and her husband were the only people present when agents arrived, and she did not provide passwords to the devices during the portion of the search she attended.

The warrant authorized seizure of electronic devices, passports, and immigration records related to Omar and her relatives, citing potential violations involving immigration fraud, false statements in immigration proceedings, and conspiracy.

Agents remained on the property for an extended time and were observed carrying out several boxes of documents and materials.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Matthew Sharbaugh limited prosecutors’ access to certain records before approving the warrant, referencing constitutional protections for members of Congress.

The investigation focuses on Omar’s family’s immigration paperwork and the circumstances under which she obtained U.S. citizenship.

Omar arrived in the United States as a refugee from Somalia around 1995 and became a citizen in 2000.

Authorities are examining whether she or her late father, Nur Omar Mohamed, listed her age as 17 rather than 18 on documents when he applied for citizenship.

Under rules then in effect, an unmarried permanent resident under 18 could derive citizenship automatically through a parent’s naturalization.

More than a dozen subpoenas have been issued, including to family members such as Omar’s sister, in connection with a Minnesota grand jury reviewing the records.

The multipronged inquiry aims to build a case that could lead to revocation of citizenship and deportation proceedings.

The administration has expanded civil denaturalization actions, which lack the same statute-of-limitations constraints as criminal charges.

A New York Post report citing emails from the Minnesota Legislative Reference Library found that Omar’s congressional staff requested in May 2019 that the library change her listed birth year from 1981 to 1982.

Omar has described the search as targeting political opponents and has denied wrongdoing, with no charges filed as of the reporting.