New details are emerging about the federal raid on Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-MN) Washington, D.C., home, with investigators reportedly examining whether immigration-related records could point to criminal activity.
Homeland Security Investigations agents searched the Minnesota Democrat’s residence Monday under a warrant approved by a federal judge.
Agents were seen removing boxes from the property and loading them into government vehicles.
The Justice Department confirmed that the search was part of an ongoing federal investigation.
Former assistant U.S. attorney Jonathan Fahey said the fact that a federal judge approved the warrant means investigators convinced the court there was probable cause to believe evidence of a federal crime would be found inside Omar’s home. Pasted text
That does not mean Omar has been charged with or convicted of any crime.
Still, Fahey said home searches of this kind usually come later in an investigation, after investigators have already spent significant time building a case.
“Generally a search warrant is occurring towards the end of an investigation because you’re building up evidence that led to this search warrant,” he said.
Authorities have not publicly disclosed exactly what they were looking for.
One theory being discussed by people familiar with the matter involves longstanding claims about Omar’s age at the time she obtained U.S. citizenship through her father.
Omar has said she became a U.S. citizen in 2000 at age 17 after her father was naturalized.
That route to citizenship is available to qualifying minor children of naturalized parents.
Questions have circulated for years over whether Omar was actually older than 17 at the time.
Those allegations remain unverified.
Critics have pointed to historical records that allegedly listed Omar’s birth year as 1981 before later being changed to 1982.
Current congressional records list her birth year as 1982.
If she was born in 1982, she would have been 17 when she received citizenship.
If investigators were looking at older immigration records, prosecutors could still face statute-of-limitations problems.
One person cited in the report said naturalization fraud has a 10-year statute of limitations.
However, investigators could potentially be interested in more recent documents if they believe false information was repeatedly used on later applications, such as passport renewals or financial paperwork.
Fahey said any current federal case would likely need to involve alleged conduct that falls within an applicable limitations period.
“There could be new crimes committed that stemmed from that previous fraud,” he said.
Omar has said that records from her childhood in Somalia were destroyed amid unrest in the country.
She has not publicly produced a birth certificate.
Following the raid, Omar posted a defiant message online.
“I will not be silenced,” she said.
She characterized the search as an effort to target political opponents and weaponize federal law enforcement.
The raid comes weeks after White House border czar Tom Homan said Omar was the subject of an ongoing criminal investigation.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin had also suggested that investigators were examining broader questions surrounding Omar’s family immigration history, per the New York Post.
Another long-running allegation involving Omar concerns her former husband, Ahmed Elmi.
Critics have claimed for years that Elmi was actually her brother and that the marriage was connected to immigration fraud.
Omar has denied wrongdoing.
People cited in the report said the current investigation does not appear to be focused on that marriage.
One reason is timing.
The marriage ended in divorce in 2017, and the statute of limitations for any alleged marriage fraud would likely create significant legal obstacles.
The current focus, according to people familiar with the investigation, appears more likely to involve citizenship-related documentation and whether any allegedly false information was used in more recent years.
Federal investigators have not confirmed that theory.
What is confirmed is that a judge authorized the search of Omar’s residence and that agents removed materials as part of the ongoing investigation.
No charges have been announced.
For now, the raid marks the most serious federal law enforcement action yet involving allegations that have surrounded Omar’s immigration history for years.
