Federal Agents Search Ilhan Omar’s Washington Home in Criminal Investigation

Homeland Security Investigations agents searched the Washington-area home of Representative Ilhan Omar on the morning of 12 October 2026. The Department of Justice said the agents executed a judicially authorised search warrant as part of an ongoing federal criminal investigation. No charges have been announced.

Omar, a Democrat from Minnesota, was not reported to be present. She is the first Somali-American member of Congress and has been an outspoken critic of President Trump. She arrived in the United States in 1995 as a 12-year-old refugee after years in a Kenyan camp. Her office said the search is an abuse of power and an attempt to intimidate political opponents. Omar posted that she will not be silenced and described the action as the latest escalation in a long campaign of baseless claims against her.

Sources familiar with the investigation told reporters that the probe concerns immigration paperwork filed by Omar’s late father when she was a child. The Justice Department has not confirmed the precise subject of the warrant. Vice President JD Vance and other administration officials have previously alleged immigration fraud; Omar has denied the claims. The search occurred three weeks before the 3 November midterm elections, in which Omar is seeking re-election.

A BBC crew observed agents at the residence, some carrying boxes. Fox News first reported the search. The Department of Homeland Security referred questions to the Justice Department. A DOJ spokesperson confirmed the warrant and the criminal nature of the investigation but gave no further details. Tom Homan, the White House border policy official, told Fox News that a warrant had been executed but added no specifics.

Omar’s communications director, Jacklyn Rogers, called the raid an outrageous abuse of power. She said no president should use federal law enforcement to target political enemies and that the congresswoman has done nothing wrong. Omar herself wrote on social media that the action is an attempt to weaponise law enforcement and that she has faced smear campaigns for ten years.

The search is unusual so close to an election. Law enforcement agencies have traditionally avoided high-profile actions against candidates in the final weeks of a campaign. The warrant was secured by the Justice Department and executed by HSI, the investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security. Agents were visible outside the home in the early morning.

Omar represents Minnesota’s 5th district, which includes Minneapolis. She was first elected in 2018. Trump has repeatedly criticised her and the Somali community in Minnesota. The investigation, according to sources, focuses on documents submitted decades ago rather than on any recent official act by the congresswoman.

No court documents have been made public. The Justice Department has not said whether additional searches or interviews are planned. Omar’s office has not indicated whether she will return to Washington immediately or continue campaigning in Minnesota. The midterm calendar continues regardless of the status of the investigation.

The practical result so far is a public confrontation between the administration and a sitting member of Congress three weeks before voters decide control of the House and Senate. The warrant establishes that a judge found probable cause for a search. What evidence was sought, and what will be done with it, remains known only to investigators and the court that authorised the warrant.