By JOHN LESLIE

On Oct. 12, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents raided the Washington, D.C., home of U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar in connection with a federal investigation of alleged immigration fraud. Omar, a U.S. citizen and “progressive” member of Congress has denied any wrongdoing. This raid, coming just a few weeks before the election, in which Omar is running to remain in her post, violates the Department of Justice practice of not conducting criminal investigations or such searches in the run-up to elections. The administration’s moves against Omar are part of the larger efforts to disrupt the mid-term elections.

Omar came to the United States as a minor and refugee from war-torn Somalia. She has been the target of attacks by the Trump regime for years. The Trump regime’s goal is to strip Omar’s citizenship and to deport her.

Omar stated on Oct. 13 that the raid and investigation was an administration attempt to “target political enemies and weaponize law enforcement.” She continued, “This is just the latest escalation in his campaign of political intimidation. I will not be silenced.” At least 175 House Democrats have condemned the federal probe and search into Omar’s immigration history, calling it a weaponization of law enforcement meant to influence the result of her reelection campaign.

The raid came on the heels of anti-Somali and anti-immigrant rhetoric from the white supremacist Trump regime. On Thursday, Oct. 8, President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social, stating, “The once Great State of Minnesota is being taken over by Somali Immigrants. There is Violence, Murder, and Mayhem all over the State. The people of Minnesota must fight back.” This sparked accusations that Trump was inciting a race war.

Two days later, at a rally in Tennessee, Trump once again turned his vitriol towards Omar and the Somali community: “She [Omar] comes from Somalia; they don’t have a government, they don’t have police. All they have is crime and squalor.” He continued, “These people from Somalia, what they’ve done to Minnesota should never be allowed.” People of Somali descent make up approximately 1.8% to 2% of Minnesota’s total population. East African and Somali workers make up about 30 percent of the workforce at Amazon’s fulfillment center in Shakopee (MSP1), near Minneapolis.

This comes amid an Islamophobic campaign aimed at Muslims in general and specifically toward Muslim candidates like Abdul El-Sayed, who is the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Michigan. Unfounded accusations of links to terrorist groups or that candidates would impose Sharia law are commonly hurled by Trump’s allies in the Republican Party.

There has been a sharp rise in anti-Muslim hate crimes in the U.S. and internationally. The Muslim Public Affairs Committee (MPAC) released a security bulletin reporting an 11-fold increase in targeted attacks against Muslims and mosques in the first three months of 2026. The Council on American-Islamic Relations(CAIR) reported 8683 anti-Muslim discrimination and hate complaints in its annual civil-rights report, reaching record-high levels. CAIR also notes a sharp increase in federal law enforcement efforts that target Muslim communities.

Similarly, during the 2024 campaign, Trump and Vance made insane claims that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, were stealing and eating household pets. At the time Trump claimed, without evidence, that Haitian immigrants, “in Springfield, they’re eating the dogs. The people that came in, they’re eating the cats, they’re eating, they’re eating the pets of the people that live there.”

In his second term, Trump moved to revoke Temporary Protective Status (TPS) for more than 350,000 Haitian nationals living in the U.S. Haitians who previously lived and worked legally in the U.S. under TPS lost their work authorizations and face the threat of deportation—while more than 700 have already been deported. Trump’s revocation of TPS for Haitian immigrants has triggered a severe labor shortage in nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and home care agencies. As an example of the racist character of Trump’s immigration policies,  white South Africans are being given priority for refugee status because of false accusations of racial discrimination and violence against whites in South Africa.

The current attack on Ilhan Omar and the attempt to strip her of her citizenship are part of a broader attack on democratic rights, voting rights, and free speech. The white supremacist regime in D.C. is engaged in a full-frontal attack on the working class, including immigrant workers, and on the rights of people of color, women, and LGBTQ communities.

If the state can remove the citizenship of a critic or opposition politician in such a politically motivated witch hunt, no one is safe. As socialists, we have fundamental political differences with Representative Omar, a member of the capitalist Democratic Party. We believe that the working class and its allies need a party of our own, a mass, independent working-class party. However, the political differences we have do not matter in this case; we are for the unconditional defense of Ilhan Omar’s rights as a U.S. citizen.

Hands off Ilhan Omar!

Stop the assault on democratic rights!

Abolish ICE!

Papers for all!

Photo by J. Scott Applewhite / AP

The post Hands off Ilhan Omar! Stop the witch hunt! first appeared on Workers’ Voice/La Voz de los Trabajadores.

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