Obama Defends Rep. Ilhan Omar Amid Immigration Investigation

Former President Barack Obama expressed his support for Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) after agents from the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) unit raided her home as part of an immigration fraud inquiry.

In a post on X, Obama claimed that it contradicts the principles of American democracy for the government to target individuals based solely on their political beliefs, arguing that this is precisely what the Trump administration is doing to Omar.

He pointed out that Omar immigrated to the U.S. with her father at the age of 12, noting that her father became a naturalized citizen five years later. If Omar had been 18 at that time, she would have needed to apply for citizenship separately, but since she was 17, she automatically gained citizenship.

Obama also celebrated Omar’s achievements, highlighting her college graduation, work as a community organizer, and her historic role as the first Somali-American legislator elected to public office in the country.

He remarked that the current administration is seemingly pursuing deportation of Congresswoman Omar based on an unfounded assumption that she was actually 18 when her father became a citizen, thus questioning her citizenship status. He pointed out that federal agents have raided her home, taken personal records, and seized her phone in an attempt to find evidence for a case he views as nonexistent.

“Think about that,” Obama said, reflecting on the significant resources being directed at a law-abiding official simply because she has criticized the president. He went on to mention that this isn’t an isolated incident, indicating that the Trump administration has frequently targeted perceived political adversaries, including officials from various government sectors.

On Thursday, Fox News reported that HSI agents had seized Omar’s phone during the raid on her home in Washington, D.C., as part of the criminal investigation into her immigration documents.

The inquiry is connected to allegations regarding whether Omar misrepresented her age during her immigration process in 1995. Omar became a naturalized citizen in 2000.

Additionally, a report from the New York Times revealed that the search warrant for the raid was prompted by family text messages found on her sister’s phone. Sources indicated that federal investigators had previously seized the phone of Omar’s sister, Sahra Noor, while looking into the possibility of immigration fraud related to the congresswoman’s entry into the U.S. in the 1990s.