DOJ Subpoenas Relatives of Rep. Ilhan Omar as Federal Criminal Probe Into Her Immigration History Intensifies

The Justice Department has issued subpoenas to relatives of Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Minnesota Democrat, as part of a criminal investigation that is intensifying after years of inquiry into her immigration history. Federal agents with Homeland Security Investigations conducted a pre-dawn search of Omar's Washington, D.C., home on Monday, October 12, executing a judicially authorized search warrant secured by the Department of Justice. Sources told CBS News that the yearslong probe centers on immigration paperwork completed by Omar's late father when she was a child, and the New York Times reported that the DOJ issued the subpoenas to some of Omar's relatives as the investigation escalated.

Omar, a U.S. citizen and the first Somali American elected to Congress, called the search "an attempt to target political enemies" and said she would not be silenced. She also solicited donations from supporters, asking them to help her "fight back" after the ICE raid. Separately, the New York Post reported that Omar's staff helped alter her birthdate in official public records after her 2018 election to Congress, a development that adds to the questions surrounding her immigration and citizenship history.

The search of a sitting member of Congress's home marks a significant escalation of the Trump administration's use of federal law enforcement against a prominent political opponent. The DOJ confirmed the warrant and described it as part of an ongoing federal criminal investigation, while declining further comment.