Ilhan Omar tells the scenes of the raid on her home in her first television appearance

Listen to the article. The audio text is automated, generated by an automated system

In her first media interview since the US Department of Homeland Security Investigations raided her home, Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar, from Minnesota, said that she no longer felt safe to stay in her home in Washington, DC.

Omar attributed this to receiving death threats and security concerns after her home address was circulated and made available to the public, describing the security raid as an attempt at “political intimidation,” accusing the administration of President Donald Trump of seeking to intimidate voters.

Omar said, in an interview with Chris Hayes on the MS NOW network, on Wednesday, that federal agents violently knocked on the doors of her house in the early hours of the morning of October 12, after she returned from a travel trip and had only slept for about two and a half hours. She added that her first thought was that a fire had broken out in the place, before she realized that it was a security operation.

The representative added that the timing and method of the raid raised fears for her and her family, considering that the arrival of security forces at a person’s home at such an early time could not be explained, from her point of view, except as an attempt to create panic, adding that the operation lasted between four and five hours, and up to 25 members participated in it.

Omar recounted that her husband opened the door to federal agents, who presented a judicial search warrant, noting that she was also surprised by the request to sign a document whereby she would waive some of the constitutional protections granted to her as a member of Congress, but she refused to sign.

She said that the officers confiscated 17 items from the house, including her phone, an old phone, an old phone for her younger daughter, notebooks belonging to her husband, a camera he got from his uncle, as well as a book for teaching children phrases in the Somali language that her husband used to learn the language.

Omar expressed her astonishment at the nature of the seized items, saying that a large number of them were old notebooks and phones, and described the matter as “very strange.”

It is noteworthy that the US Department of Justice had confirmed in a previous statement that the Department of Homeland Security Investigations had executed a judicially authorized search warrant, explaining that the operation was part of an ongoing federal criminal investigation. The Ministry did not announce details of the evidence on which the investigation was based.

The case revolves around suspicions related to the possibility of providing incorrect information in immigration documents and data related to obtaining American citizenship. According to CNN, investigators are examining whether Omar or her late father provided incorrect information about her age during immigration and naturalization procedures.

Omar arrived in the United States in March 1995, after fleeing the civil war in Somalia with her family, and spending four years in a refugee camp in Kenya. She obtained US citizenship in 2000, when she was seventeen years old, according to information contained in American reports.

Omar rejected the accusations that she might have committed irregularities in immigration procedures, considering that assuming the involvement of a 12-year-old girl in a deliberate plan to deceive the authorities requires evidence that is difficult to imagine, according to her account.

She said she takes the investigation seriously, but does not believe the federal government has a strong case on which to bring criminal charges against her.

The authorities have not announced a criminal charge against Omar in this case yet, and the existence of an investigation does not mean that she has committed a violation.

This is not the first time that Omar's immigration file has been subject to scrutiny. The Washington Post reported, in a report published on October 15, that an official in the administration of US President Donald Trump requested in 2019 to review its immigration records for possible evidence of fraud.

The Department of Homeland Security Investigations concluded at the time that there was insufficient evidence of wrongdoing to justify opening a comprehensive investigation, before abandoning that path, according to former officials who spoke to the newspaper.

But the authorities reopened the file, according to the report, with the current investigation focusing on information related to Omar’s date of birth and her late father’s immigration file. The findings of the previous review do not necessarily mean concluding the results of the current investigation, but it places the new case in the context of a previous audit that did not lead to a full investigation.

Omar said that she was not aware of the details of the 2019 review, and that she learned about it through the Washington Post report published days before the interview.

The raid comes in the context of an extended political dispute between Omar and US President Donald Trump, who repeatedly attacked her because of her political positions and criticism of his immigration policies.

The Democratic representative believes that the current investigation falls within political targeting of her, while the Ministry of Justice confirms that the inspection came within the framework of an ongoing criminal investigation and pursuant to a judicial authorization.

Between Omar's accusations of the authorities trying to intimidate her, and the government's adherence to legal procedures for the investigation, the case remains open to new developments, awaiting what evidence the investigations may reveal and whether they will lead to the filing of official charges.

The case brings to the fore the debate over the use of law enforcement powers in cases involving prominent political figures, and the limits of separation between independent criminal investigations and political conflicts in the United States.