By Monica Moorehead
October 16, 2026

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which includes Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), executed a warrant to search the Washington, D.C., residence of Representative Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) on Oct. 12. According to reports, the agents were looking for “evidence of fraud and false statements in her immigration paperwork.”

Eyewitnesses in the neighborhood stated that they noticed boxes being removed from her home. Also, neighbors heard loud knocking by the agents at Omar’s house at 4 a.m. that Monday morning. She was not there.

Omar’s sister, Sahra Noor, and one other family member received a subpoena to appear before a grand jury. When learning about the search of her home, Omar criticized #47, saying it was his goal “to target political enemies and weaponize federal law enforcement.” (Washington Post, Oct. 12)

Ilhan Omar was born in Somalia and was 12 years old when her family moved to the U.S. and became legal citizens. DHS is investigating whether Omar’s late father falsified certain information in his immigration papers.

She was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2018, winning Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District race. Minnesota is home to the largest Somali migrant community in the U.S. with a population of over 61,000.

A history of racist, sexist hostility

The current White House occupant has expressed utter disdain for Omar beginning with his first term in office and currently. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand why. She is not a revolutionary socialist, but while not an official member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), she does identify as a democratic socialist. She has supported Medicare for All and has condemned the Israeli genocide in Gaza.

The main reasons for #47’s hatred of Omar is that she is a woman who comes from Somalia — which he has dismissed as a “non-country.” This is the same Somalia, located in the Horn of Africa, whose population opposed the U.S. invasion there (1992-94), carried out under the guise of “humanitarian aid.”

This latest political attack on Omar is part of #47’s xenophobic, fascistic war on migrants, especially migrants of color from the Global South. And because Omar won her congressional seat due to the mass support of the Somali community, Minneapolis was targeted by ICE earlier this year, leading to the murders of Renée Good and Alex Pretti for defending migrants.

If #47 had his way, every Somali would be detained and deported back to their home country. Fortunately, the nonmigrant Minneapolis residents have shown broad solidarity with their migrant siblings by organizing watch squads that warn people when ICE has invaded their neighborhoods.

The right to self-determination is primary 

The recent development involving Ilhan Omar goes much deeper than the need to defend one individual. It is not about supporting her as a Democratic politician — her party, just like the Republican Party, represents racism, war and the interests of the billionaire ruling class.

One cannot separate Ilhan Omar from the Somali community that voted her as their representative — which is their right. Minnesota’s Somalis have always defended her when she has come under attack. The DHS and its armed apparatus, ICE, are extensions of the repressive state, aimed at targeting migrants. The Somali migrants are among the most oppressed within our class because of divide-and-conquer white supremacy.

In order to forge working-class unity to strengthen our class for the anti-capitalist struggle, every revolutionary movement must defend the fundamental right to self-determination of an oppressed people, including the right to vote for representation, which is under constant assault by the imperialist bourgeoisie.