Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., said Sunday that the increased federal law enforcement presence in Minneapolis is “wasting taxpayer resources” and “terrorizing our communities,” as President Donald Trump’s administration ramps up efforts targeting fraud and illegal immigration.
Speaking with MS NOW host Ayman Mohyeldin about the administration’s push to address both illegal immigration and Minnesota’s major fraud scandal, Omar echoed the host’s suggestion that some politicians are “falling for” conspiracy theories.
“They are falling for this because it is a part of this PR that Democrats somehow condone this fraud and corruption,” she said.
Some in Minnesota’s Somali community are ‘professionals’ at defrauding government programs: Rep James ComerVideo
Omar also referenced the period when Elon Musk was leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), arguing the department failed to uncover fraud and instead ended up “harming people who were vulnerable.”
She went on to claim the Trump administration has not secured a single new indictment in its fraud efforts in Minnesota — an investigation that has produced charges against dozens of defendants, many of them Somalis.
“Again, I’m so exhausted in trying to ask, what any of this, you know, information has led to you finding any criminals that you have indicted, that explains why you are wasting so much of our taxpayer resources?” Omar said Sunday.
From there, Omar took direct aim at the visible increase in federal law enforcement activity.
Anti-ICE protests intensify nationwide after Minneapolis shootingVideo
“And also terrorizing our communities in the amount of federal law enforcement agents that you have in the streets of our city and our state,” she said. “There needs to be some sort of justification, and every single case that they have, you know, put in front of us has been a case that has been investigated or adjudicated under the Biden administration.”
Her remarks come as Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem said Sunday that the federal government is sending additional agents to Minnesota to protect immigration officers and continue enforcement operations amid rising tensions following last week’s fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good by an ICE agent.
Noem told “Sunday Morning Futures” host Maria Bartiromo that DHS will deploy hundreds more agents to Minneapolis to help Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol agents carry out operations safely.
Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., said that her U.S.-born son was pulled over by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Minnesota on Dec. 13. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
“If they conduct violent activities against law enforcement, if they impede our operations, that’s a crime, and we will hold them accountable to those consequences,” she said, referring to clashes between some protesters and federal agents outside an ICE facility and the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building over the weekend.
The protests — which have spread to other cities, including Los Angeles, Portland and New York — follow last week’s fatal shooting of Good. DHS alleges Good “weaponized her vehicle” and “attempted to run a law enforcement officer over.” Supporters of Good dispute that account, saying she was attempting to leave and that the ICE agent used improper force.
