Ilhan Omar’s Son Questioned by ICE
Representative Ilhan Omar reported that her son was stopped by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on Saturday as they looked into his citizenship status.
“Yesterday, he was stopped by a car after stopping at Target. And once he could show his passport ID, they released him,” Omar (D-Minnesota) shared during an interview with local station WCCO.
She noted that her son “always carries” his passport, just in case something like this happens.
This incident is happening against a backdrop of heightened scrutiny in Minnesota, which has been triggered by a significant fraud scandal involving $1 billion.
President Trump has criticized the involvement of members from the Somali community in this scandal, asserting, “We don’t want them” in the U.S.
In addition to the recent stop, Omar claimed that ICE had previously entered a mosque where her sons were praying.
“I had to remind him how concerned I was because all these areas that they’re talking about are areas that he could get into. They’re doing racial profiling and looking for young Somali-looking men whom they assume are illegal immigrants,” she elaborated.
Originally hailing from Somalia, Omar immigrated to the U.S. in the mid-1990s and became a citizen in 2000. Since then, she has often been a target for Trump’s criticisms, with some Republicans labeling her as “trash.”
Trump argued that the fraud scandal is partly due to Minnesota’s insufficient safeguards in social safety net programs.
Omar has also condemned the actions of the Trump administration in relation to immigration, saying, “Operation Metro Surge is state-sanctioned racial profiling used as a means of political blackmail.” She added that Somali Minnesotans remain courageous and are supported by their communities.
“We are not intimidated by bullies,” she emphasized in a recent post.
In a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons, Omar and other Squad members accused local agents of “blatant racial profiling” and using “egregious levels of unnecessary force.”
The Post has reached out to ICE for a response regarding these allegations.
Currently, Minnesota is home to about 107,000 Somalis, the highest population of any state in the U.S., according to U.S. Census Bureau data. Omar estimates that “more than 90 percent” of Somali residents in the U.S. are nationals.
