Ilhan Omar says agents took 17 items in raid, and threats will force her to move

Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Minnesota Democrat, said federal agents took 17 items from her Washington, D.C., home during a pre-dawn search on Oct. 12. She spoke in a Wednesday interview on MS NOW with host Chris Hayes, her first since the raid. ¹²

Omar denied the immigration fraud allegations. She said about 10 to 15 agents from Homeland Security Investigations, a branch of the Department of Homeland Security, pounded on her door at 6 a.m. and then carried out a search warrant. ¹

By her account, agents went through the residence room by room for nearly five hours. They took 17 items, including several phones. ¹²

You don’t show up to somebody’s house that early in the morning unless you’re trying to freak them out

Threats force a move

Omar said the threats she has received since the raid mean she can no longer stay in her D.C. apartment. She said her address has been made public, and she worries about her children visiting and being tracked. She also has a home in Minnesota. ²

Obviously, I can’t continue to live there

What the president and his allies say

President Trump and his administration have claimed that Omar's father lied about her age when she became a U.S. citizen in 2000. Omar has denied this. Allies of the president have also promoted theories that she is in a sham marriage with her brother. The Guardian described those theories as baseless. ¹²

Asked this week whether Omar could be deported, Trump said: “Well, she could be. She could also go to jail.” He also criticized her sharply in personal terms. ¹²

The Hill reported that The Washington Post found federal officials in Trump's first term reviewed Omar's immigration records in 2019 and did not find evidence of fraud. ²

Why it matters

Omar called the search part of a “campaign of political intimidation.” She also questioned why officials declared she had committed a crime before saying anything about subpoenas or a grand jury, the panel that decides whether to bring charges. No charges against her have been reported in the coverage we reviewed. ²

Former President Obama called the administration's investigation of Omar “appalling,” according to The Hill. Omar said she has heard an outpouring of support from Democratic colleagues. ²

That matters because a search of a sitting member of Congress's home is rare. Whatever the facts turn out to be, the president's public comments about deportation and jail while the case is open raise a fair question about whether law enforcement is being kept separate from politics. Omar believes the raid was meant to appease Trump loyalists. Neither source reports a response from the Department of Homeland Security to her account. ¹²

What happens next is unclear. The coverage does not say whether a grand jury is involved or whether charges are planned. Omar said she is confident she has done nothing wrong. ¹²

The Record

1. Oct 12, 2026Federal agents searched Rep. Ilhan Omar's Washington, D.C., residence under a search warrant, and she says they took 17 items ¹²
2. Oct 21, 2026In her first interview since the raid, Omar denied immigration fraud and said threats will force her to move out of her D.C. apartment ¹²

Sources

1. The Guardian, “Ilhan Omar says US agents seized 17 items in raid designed to ‘freak’ her out” (2026-10-22). theguardian.com/us-news/2026/oct/21/ilhan-omar-congresswoman
2. The Hill, “Omar said she will have to move due to threats following federal raid” (2026-10-22). thehill.com/homenews/house/6164465-omar-to-move-dc-residence

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