With Minneapolis bristling under a flood of federal badges, Rep. Ilhan Omar is calling out what she says is a reckless show of force aimed squarely at immigrant communities.
Speaking Sunday on Face the Nation, Omar denounced the Trump administration’s decision to pour thousands of federal agents into the Twin Cities following revelations of a massive fraud scheme tied to COVID-era aid programs. Her verdict was blunt: confusion, chaos, and collateral damage.
“It’s not necessary in a moment when we are trying to deal with a serious problem that needs serious people to be able to address it,” Omar said, warning that the crackdown is doing more harm than good.
Minneapolis now hosts one of the largest concentrations of Department of Homeland Security agents seen in any American city in recent years. More than 2,400 federal officers are already on the ground — more than double the size of the local police force — with hundreds more expected to arrive.
The administration says the surge is essential to enforce immigration law and unravel a sprawling fraud scandal that prosecutors estimate could ultimately cost taxpayers as much as $9 billion. The case traces back to 2021, when federal investigators uncovered an alleged $250 million COVID-era scam centered on the Feeding Our Future program. The investigation has since ballooned, ensnaring more than 75 defendants.
A neigbhor who saw what happened told local MPR news: “She was trying to turn around, and the ICE agent was in front of her car, and he pulled out a gun and put it right in — like, his midriff was on her bumper — and he reached across the hood of the car and shot her in the face like three, four times” / Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license
But the optics have ignited fury in Minnesota. Most of those charged are of Somali descent, and President Donald Trump and other Republicans have repeatedly spotlighted the state’s Somali community while threatening to cut off federal funding to Minnesota programs, including SNAP benefits and child care assistance.
Omar said that approach is less about accountability than intimidation.
“There is no reason for them to use this level of rhetoric. There is no reason for them to fully stop these programs,” she said. “The only reason they are doing that is for PR purposes. And it is harming our state. It is harming my constituents.”
The White House fired back quickly. Spokesperson Abigail Jackson said it was “not surprising” that Omar appeared “more concerned about Somali fraudsters being held accountable for their crimes than she is about the fraud taking place.”
The federal escalation has also rattled Minnesota’s political leadership. Gov. Tim Walz announced earlier this month that he would not seek reelection, a move that followed weeks of intense scrutiny and Republican attacks linking him to the scandal. Walz, who served as Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate in the 2024 election, suggested the investigation had morphed into a political vendetta.
“If it’s me, you’re already getting what you want,” Walz said last week. “But leave my people alone.”
Omar praised the decision as an act of sacrifice rather than surrender.
“He wants to focus on defending our state and not defending a seat,” she said.
As Minneapolis braces for even more federal boots on the ground, the city finds itself caught between a massive fraud probe and a political storm — one that Omar says is punishing entire communities in the name of optics and power.
