DHS had probable cause, 'compelling evidence' to conduct raid of Ilhan Omar's home with immigration fraud as likely reason: report

Authorities that raided Rep. Ilhan Omar's (D-MN) Washington, DC home early on Monday morning have "compelling evidence" of criminal activity by the congresswoman to back up the action, according to a report from the New York Post. Those involved are already nearing the end of the investigation, the outlet reported.

The most likely cause for investigation may have to do with Omar's immigration records, which some have claimed indicated she was one year older than she claimed at the time. When she became a US citizen, she claimed to be 17 years old, meaning she was automatically naturalized with her parents. If she was 18, that tiny detail may upend her immigration status.

“The big picture here is a federal judge in Washington, DC, signed off on a search warrant. That means there’s probable cause that a federal crime was committed, and there would be evidence of that crime in the area to be searched, which in this case was Representative Omar’s home,” former assistant US attorney Jonathan Fahey said.

Early on Monday, officials with Homeland Security Investigations raided Omar's home, and were seen taking boxes of what appeared to be evidence out of the residence. “Today in the Washington, DC, area, Homeland Security Investigations executed a judicially authorized search warrant secured by the Department of Justice,” the DOJ said. “This enforcement action is part of an ongoing federal investigation.”

Omar responded to the raid and said she will "not be silenced" and said that it was “an attempt to target political enemies and weaponize federal law enforcement" from the Trump administration.

Fahey added in his comments that getting a Washington, DC judge to sign off on a warrant—despite many of them being in opposition to the administration—likely means that the raid was justified.

“For a DC judge to sign off on something that’s 20 years old, you have to say you believe there is current evidence of the crime in her house,” he said. “A judge must have been very convinced.”

If the investigation is surrounding Omar's age at the time of her being naturalized, as a source suggested to the Post, that could have passed the 10-year statute of limitations. However, if she has kept using the same date of October 1982 as when she was born on official documents and that is false, that could implicate her in committing fraud.

“A federal judge saw something that said, we believe there’s evidence of a crime that will be found in that house, and presumably it would be something that’s not just a crime beyond the statute of limitations,” Fahey said. “There could be new crimes committed that stemmed from that previous fraud.”

Omar's age was publicly called out in 2019 when a Minnesota resident made a viral video that showed state records that recorded her birthday as being in 1981 and not 1982, which would make her 18 at the time of her naturalization. After the video was released, the Minnesota Legislative Reference Library’s website was changed to show her birthday as in 1982 and not 1981. Congressional records today say that she was born in 1982.