In the early morning hours of October 12, federal agents from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) — the investigative branch of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) — searched congresswoman Ilhan Omar’s Minneapolis home as part of an ongoing probe into Omar’s immigration status. Border czar Tom Homan announced in September that Omar is the subject of an ongoing investigation, which claims that there are issues with her immigration paperwork from the 1990s, and Monday’s search was part of this investigation. The reality is that this targeted investigation into Omar is just one part of an ongoing offensive against immigrants across the United States and the racist attacks against the Somali community in the Twin Cities.

Racism aimed at Somali Minnesotans has ramped up in the last year as part of the ongoing far-right offensive against immigrants. In late 2025, news broke that an elaborate fraud had been orchestrated by the leaders various Twin Cities nonprofit organizations. Though the key ringleader of the fraud was a white woman from the Minneapolis suburbs, right-wing politicians used the alleged involvement of Somali immigrants to justify the onslaught of ICE activity in the Twin Cities this winter.

In a Truth Social post, Donald Trump wrote “Somali gangs are terrorizing the people of that great State, and BILLIONS of Dollars are missing. Send them back to where they came from.” In the same post, Trump announced that he was ending Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Somali immigrants (a move which was finalized in August). Just a month after the fraud was exposed, the administration unleashed Operation Metro Surge on the Twin Cities, arresting and terrorizing thousands of immigrants and killing both Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti.

An outspoken critic of Operation Metro Surge and an immigrant herself, Omar became a key target of the administration’s attacks on immigrants in Minnesota. In January, Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social, “‘Scammer’ Ilhan Omar and her absolutely terrible friends from Somalia should all be in jail right now, or far worse, send them back to Somalia.”

During the massive uprising against Operation Metro Surge, JD Vance suggested that Omar had committed immigration fraud to come to the U.S. (despite the fact that she arrived in the U.S. as a child, and her late father completed all of her immigration paperwork). Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin has also called for Omar’s deportation, echoing the administration’s call for an investigation into her immigration status. Omar has previously called these allegations about her immigration status “disgusting lies,” saying that these attacks against her and other Somali-Americans were nothing more than a politically-motivated PR move from the President.

Indeed, it is no surprise that this raid of Omar’s home was conducted just three weeks before the midterm elections, where Minnesota will play a key role in deciding control of the House and Senate. A Republican victory in Minnesota this midterm season could offset losses in other states and help the GOP maintain a majority in the Senate. Republicans have their eye especially on the tight race between Republican Michele Tafoya and Democrat Peggy Flanagan to decide who will replace long-time Senator Tina Smith (D). Across the state, Republicans and Democrats alike are pouring millions of dollars into Senate and House races in Minnesota in order to win key seats.

In this context, the Republican Party has a vested interest in shoring up support from conservative-leaning Minnesotans. Immigration has been a key uniting factor in the GOP for years, but this unity on immigration has faltered in the aftermath of Operation Metro Surge. Nevertheless, the rural and suburban areas of Minnesota remain deeply conservative, and anti-immigrant sentiment does persist throughout Minnesota. This tactic of doubling down on anti-immigrant rhetoric targeting Somali Americans, and most especially progressive Democrat Ilhan Omar, could capture key votes for the GOP this midterm election.

Beyond just the midterms, this investigation is also representative of a decisive move by the Trump administration to punish opposition through harsh repression. In Minneapolis earlier this year, felony charges were brought against fifteen anti-ICE activists in the Twin Cities for their organizing against Operation Metro Surge, claiming they were tied to Antifa and were guilty of assaulting federal officers. This Spring, similar charges were brought against activists in Texas who organized anti-ICE demonstrations outside of Prairieland Detention Center. The defendants were found guilty and sentenced to decades in prison, with some set to serve up to 60 years behind bars.

Ilhan Omar is right, these attacks against her are nothing more than political maneuver from a Republican Party in crisis. The GOP is using the rise of anti-Somali racism and anti-immigrant sentiment in rural Minnesota for its own gain this midterm season, and the Trump administration, in its weakest position of this term, is lashing out against protesters, desperately hoping to recapture support from its conservative base and intimidate the people of Minnesota who defeated Trump this winter.

We denounce wholeheartedly this targeted attack against Ilhan Omar, and the ongoing attacks against both the Somali community in Minnesota and against immigrants in the United States more broadly. Trump’s anti-immigrant agenda, and his repression of the anti-ICE movement, will not stop unless we organize ourselves to fight it. The attack on Omar and the threat of a surge in Minneapolis are a call to intensify our struggle and self-organization until ICE is abolished once and for all and we win full rights for all immigrants. We must trust in ourselves and our power, not in the Democrats who have allowed police departments to collaborate with ICE and have acted to demobilize our movements. Just as Minnesotans forced ICE to retreat through organization and mobilization this winter, we must organize once again to stop these ongoing attacks on our Somali neighbors and push ICE completely out of the Twin Cities once and for all.

The post Trump’s Attack on Ilhan Omar Is an Attack on the Somali Community and the Anti-ICE Movement appeared first on Left Voice.

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