Rep. Ilhan Omar said her American-born son was pulled over by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and asked to provide proof of citizenship.
The Minnesota Democrat, who has long been targeted by President Donald Trump’s attacks against Somali people and other immigrants, described the Saturday incident involving her 20-year-old son after writing a letter to the Department of Homeland Security accusing ICE of “blatant racial profiling” in her community.
“Yesterday, after he made a stop at Target, he did get pulled over by ICE agents, and once he was able to produce his passport ID, they did let him go,” Omar told local Minnesota news station WCCO on Sunday.
Omar also blasted the president’s attacks against her, including calling her and other Somali immigrants “garbage” who need to “go back” to where they came from.
During a speech in Pennsylvania—where the president was supposed to be trying to convince tens of millions of Americans suffering a cost-of-living crisis that the economy is in good shape—Trump instead went on a vicious tirade before a MAGA crowd and suggested the country should “throw her the hell out.”
Omar, a U.S. citizen who came to the U.S. as a child while fleeing Somalia’s civil war, told WCCO it is “really disturbing and creepy” to have the president be “obsessed with you and those who share your ethnicity.”
“Everybody knows I came to the United States at the age of 12 [and] gained my citizenship at the age of 17,” she added.
On Friday, Omar also wrote to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, expressing concern about the Trump administration’s Operation Metro Surge, in which more than 400 members of the Somali, Latino, and Asian immigrant communities in the Twin Cities area have been detained.
“Constituents, advocates, and local officials have documented blatant racial profiling, an egregious level of unnecessary force, and activity that appears designed for social media rather than befitting a law enforcement agency,” Omar wrote. “I am demanding answers on behalf of my constituents whose constitutional rights are being violated on a daily basis.”
“It is clear to me that this surge came in direct response to Trump’s racist comments about Somali people, and about me in particular,” she added.
The Daily Beast has contacted the Department of Homeland Security for comment.
