Ilhan Omar: The US Democrat Targeted by Donald Trump

Ilhan Omar, a Democratic member of the US House of Representatives from Minnesota, has become one of the most persistent targets of President Donald Trump's verbal attacks. Attention has grown after federal officials searched her home on October 12, only three weeks before the midterm congressional elections, in which she is seeking re-election.

Who is Ilhan Omar

Omar, 44, was born in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia. As a child she fled the civil war, spent four years in a refugee camp in Kenya, and arrived in the US with her family in 1995 at the age of 12. She became a US citizen in 2000. Since January 2019 she has represented Minnesota in Congress, as one of the first two Muslim women to serve there. She wears a hijab, and Congress changed a 180-year-old rule banning head coverings in the House chamber for her.

She belongs to the left wing of the Democratic Party and campaigns for universal health insurance, a higher minimum wage, climate protection and student debt cancellation. She is a vocal critic of Trump, accusing him of racism and of stoking hatred against minorities, immigrants and Muslims, and she condemns raids by the immigration enforcement agency ICE.

Controversies and accusations

Omar is also a divisive figure within her own party. She is among the sharpest critics of Israel in US politics and has been accused of antisemitism and of backing the BDS movement, which urges boycotts of Israeli businesses. In early 2023, Republicans removed her from the House Foreign Affairs Committee over controversial posts.

Opponents have tried to link her to a Minnesota fraud case in which about $250 million was misappropriated from a government-funded children's food program during the pandemic. Many of those convicted were from the Somali community, but no law enforcement agency has accused Omar of wrongdoing. The latest allegations concern her immigration to the US; the search reportedly relates to claims that her father lied about her age on her application. Omar denies the accusations and calls them political intimidation. Former immigration officials told Reuters that such a search is highly unusual, and critics point to the unwritten "60-Day Rule", under which authorities avoid public action against candidates shortly before elections.

Other Muslim politicians

Trump has also attacked Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic Senate candidate in Michigan, calling him a "radical jihadist". The article says there is no intelligence suggesting that El-Sayed has extremist connections.