U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar says her son was pulled over by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents after stopping at a Target store in Minnesota, and that he was released after showing his passport to verify his identity. Omar has described the episode as part of broader concerns about racial profiling during recent ICE operations in her state.
In a Sunday interview with CBS affiliate WCCO in Minnesota, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) described an encounter she says her son had with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
Omar told interviewer Esme Murphy that the incident occurred the previous day, after her son left a Target store. "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," she said, according to the Daily Wire’s account of the interview and video excerpts.
Murphy pressed Omar on why her son had his passport with him. Omar replied that he routinely carries it. When Murphy asked whether he brought it in case he was stopped, Omar agreed. She added that ICE agents had previously entered a mosque while her son was there but left without detaining anyone.
The Minnesota Democrat said she remains deeply worried about her son's safety amid stepped-up immigration enforcement in the Twin Cities. "I had to remind him just how worried I am, because all of these areas that they are talking about are areas where he could possibly find himself in and they are racially profiling, they are looking for young men who look Somali that they think are undocumented," she said in the interview.
Omar’s comments came days after she sent a formal letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and acting ICE Director Todd Lyons seeking answers about an ICE deployment to Minnesota. In that letter, she alleged that recent operations involved racial profiling and excessive force and were shaped by remarks from former President Donald Trump about Somali immigrants.
"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. Earlier this month, Trump called Somali immigrants ‘garbage’ and ranted that he does not want us in this country," Omar wrote, according to a copy of the letter cited by Axios and the Daily Wire.
The letter also said that Omar’s constituents, advocates, and local officials had 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." She said she was "demanding answers" to protect what she described as her constituents’ constitutional rights.
ICE has not publicly detailed the specific interaction involving Omar’s son, and the agency did not immediately respond to requests for comment in the reports citing her account. Omar’s description of the traffic stop and her broader criticism of ICE operations in Minnesota have not been independently corroborated beyond her statements and the letter she released.
