There better be a damn good reason for this.
From Nicole Sganga’s article for CBS News:
Rep. Ilhan Omar‘s Washington, D.C., home was the target of a raid early Monday morning by ICE’s investigations unit.
Sources say the investigation centers on Omar’s immigration paperwork. The documents in question date back to Omar’s childhood, involving paperwork completed by her late father when she was a child.
Omar’s office said in a statement that Omar had “done nothing wrong” and called the raid an “outrageous abuse of power and an unprecedented escalation in the weaponization of federal law enforcement to target political enemies.”
Omar, a Minnesota Democrat, posted Monday on social media, “I’m ok,” adding “I will not be silenced.”
“Make no mistake: this is an attempt to target political enemies and weaponize federal law enforcement,” Omar wrote. “For ten years, Trump has targeted me with baseless lies and smear campaigns. This is just the latest escalation in his campaign of political intimidation.”
Homeland Security Investigations, or HSI, the department’s criminal investigative arm, is leading the investigation, with the Department of Justice assisting.
Investigators are examining potential allegations of false statements and immigration fraud, according to sources familiar with the investigation.
As much as I dislike ilhan omar, the idea of raiding her home over long-ago immigration paperwork – which, it seems to me, would be available through existing records within the immigration system – strikes me as unnecessary, and intentionally provocative.
If a search for such documents is all this is, it is a disgrace.
If it is for something more, I strongly suggest that we be advised of what that something is and why it justifies a home raid.
I’ll end the way I began: there better be a damn good reason for this.
