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MAGA media figures demanded and even teased immigration action against Rep. Ilhan Omar — and then DHS raided her home

Written by Reed McMaster & Ben Van Bloem

Published 10/14/26 11:03 AM EDT

Updated 10/14/26

Right-wing media figures have long spread conspiracy theories against Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN). During the second Trump administration, this has manifested in calls to deport Omar, an American citizen, citing as supposed evidence the conspiracy theories that have spread for years. In September, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told MAGA podcaster Benny Johnson that Omar was under investigation, months after Vice President JD Vance told Johnson a similar story. When Mullin made his comments, right-wing media erupted in objection, demanding action instead of investigations.

Roughly a month later, DHS raided the congresswoman’s home. Right-wing media figures celebrated the raid, with podcast host Katie Miller reportedly even posting “promises made, promises kept” — the exact line Fox host Tomi Lahren had used to concerning Mullin’s remarks earlier to demand federal government action against Omar — while Johnson took credit: “This will be our crowning achievement for life.”

• Federal agents searched the home of Rep. Ilhan Omar
  • Right-wing figures have long spread conspiracy theories about Omar, including one “based on some of the least credible evidence ever put forward in right-wing media” that she married her brother. According to The Bulwark, the claims “certainly wouldn’t stand up in court. The whole thing, in fact, boils down to a single anonymous post on a Somali-American web forum.” Furthermore, an investigation into Omar’s financial disclosures was dismissed earlier this year, and previous federal investigations into these topics have also ended without any charges. [Media Matters, 7/25/19; CBS News, 9/9/26; The Bulwark, 9/14/26]

• • On October 12, agents with Homeland Security Investigations, a subsection of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, executed a warrant on Omar’s D.C. home. The New York Times reported, “The search warrant, executed 22 days before Election Day, lists a series of potential immigration crimes under investigation, including false statements and fraud in immigration paperwork, as well as a general conspiracy charge, according to a person familiar with the document.”
  • The search by DHS agents broke with longstanding Justice Department policy to avoid similar investigative steps against candidates within 60 days of an election that could affect the results. Donald Trump cited this policy during the 2024 elections to claim that the DOJ was acting improperly in investigating him. Omar denies the allegations and has criticized the raid on her home by DHS agents as an attempt by the Trump administration “to target political enemies and weaponize law enforcement.” [The Guardian, 10/12/26; The New York Times, 10/12/26]

• • In March, Vice President JD Vance told MAGA podcaster Benny Johnson, “We think Ilhan Omar definitely committed immigration fraud against the United States of America.” Vance said, “That’s the thing that we’re trying to figure out is what are the legal remedies now that we know that she’s committed immigration fraud — how do you go after her, how do you investigate her, how do you actually do the thing, how do you build a case necessary to get some justice for the American people?” Discussing Omar again during a White House press conference in May, Vance reiterated that “it certainly seems like something fishy is there.” [Fox News, 3/29/26; CBS News, 5/19/26]
  • In September, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told Johnson that there is an “ongoing investigation” into Omar and raised the possibility of deportation. Around the same time, White House “border czar” Tom Homan also said that “things are going on” with Omar but refused to give details about the “ongoing criminal investigation.” Homan told Fox News, “If someone committed an immigration violation, if someone committed marriage fraud or anything like that, regardless if they're a congressman or not, no one's above the law. So, I'll leave it at that. We'll let HSI, Homeland Security Investigations, continue the investigation.” [The Associated Press, 10/12/26; Fox News, 9/13/26]
  • Mullin’s remarks sparked backlash to the administration in right-wing media for taking insufficient action against Omar. According to The Bulwark, “Like many of the pledges that people in Trump world make to prosecute and deport the president’s political enemies, this pledge has also run into legal hurdles and an actual reality that is not very accommodating to their goals. And it appears that Mullin is now set to take the blame for the absence of any action. Right-wing media influencer Laura Loomer, who once traveled to Minneapolis in her own fruitless attempt to prove Omar married her brother, fumed after the Mullin interview that Omar was somehow being protected from deportation. … Perhaps no one was angrier with Mullin than Fox News host Tomi Lahren. On Saturday, Lahren devoted much of her show to claiming the DHS secretary was using Omar’s case as a sideshow to distract from the perceived lack of larger-scale deportations. ‘If they want to do an investigation, do an investigation,’ she said. But whether Omar married her brother wouldn’t ‘get people out to vote,’ Lahren said. ‘What’s going to get people out to vote for Republicans is promises made, promises kept.’” [The Bulwark, 9/14/26]

Right-wing media figures have cryptically referred to “something happening” to Omar for months

• • On September 1, Johnson said that he had been hearing “rumblings” about Omar and said, “The vice president has told me on the record that something’s about to happen.” Johnson said, “I'm hearing a lot of rumblings about Ilhan Omar. She's grown suspiciously silent on social media. The vice president has told me on the record that something's about to happen. So has Tom Homan. … And we've been sort of, like, asking around and doing our best to use our sources, and we are assured that something is about to happen with Ilhan Omar and her family.” He also asked his guest, Sean Davis of The Federalist, “What would that mean to the political zeitgeist — the Third World parasitic ecosystem that lives on the underbelly of America — what kind of message would that send to denaturalize, deport, or even just criminally charge Ilhan Omar?” Davis responded that “she needs to be sent back” and added, “That whole community needs to go back — Somalianism is incompatible with America.” [YouTube, The Benny Show, 9/1/26]

• • In May, The Charlie Kirk Show co-host Andrew Kolvet argued there are “bad things” in Omar's future and claimed she “probably engaged in immigration fraud.” He said, “She's got no good answers for it because Ilhan Omar is legitimately a scourge on our Congress. That's exactly right. She is a disgrace to the city of Washington, D.C., and to the American people. She probably engaged in immigration fraud. She's engaged in some other issues that are causing her complaints with the ethics complaints within the House. So Ilhan Omar has got, I think, some bad things in her future.” [Rumble, The Charlie Kirk Show, 5/21/26]

• • In August, host of conspiracy theory podcast X22 Report David Marc Fishman insisted there's an investigation into Omar and said, “I do believe” they will have enough evidence to indict her. He said, “They're investigating Ilhan Omar. They're collecting the evidence. And if they have enough evidence, which I do believe they will, they will then forward this on and there'll be an investigation into Ilhan Omar. There'll be a grand jury that will be looking at this and there will be an indictment as time goes on, just like with everybody else.” [Rumble, X22 Report, 8/13/26]

• • On his radio show, Fox host Sean Hannity told a caller that an investigation into Omar was underway in July, months before the September announcement. He said, “I can tell you this: There is an investigation going on. I don’t know why it’s being slow-walked. You're raising a fair and good question, and it’s irritating to me too.” [Premiere Radio Networks, The Sean Hannity Show, 7/23/26]

• • Podcaster Tim Pool suggested “something is happening” regarding an investigation into Omar weeks before Mullin admitted to it. He said, “They are not going to release information which will compromise any investigation. And this, my friends, is the disappointing part for so many that want there to be some kind of enforcement action against Ilhan Omar. This does not confirm it. Something is happening, which I would say is good, but we don't know for sure.” [YouTube, Timcast, 8/24/26]

After the DHS raid on Omar’s home, right-wing media celebrated and Benny Johnson took credit

• • Podcaster Katie Miller, wife of White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, reportedly wrote “promises made, promises kept” above an article on the DHS raid of Omar's home before reportedly deleting the post. [Bluesky, 10/12/26]

• • Benny Johnson opened a show after the raid by asking his audience “Are you excited? To send Ilhan Omar back to her indigenous peoples? That is what's about to happen. We were right. Forgive us. We're going to gloat just a bit today. It's going to be insufferable, I’m so sorry, but we’ve been waiting for this.” [YouTube, The Benny Show, 10/12/26]

• • Newsmax host Carl Higbie opened his October 12 show by celebrating the DHS raid on Omar's home, saying, “I hope they were blasting Creed while they did it.” He later added that it “couldn't happen to a better person.” [Newsmax, Carl Higbie Frontline, 10/12/26]

• • The Charlie Kirk Show co-host Blake Neff said it would “be tremendous” if the government could “strip the citizenship from Ilhan Omar,” while co-host Andrew Kolvet referred to the raid as “Christmas in October” and said her denaturalization would be “great for the whole country.” Neff said, “If you could actually denaturalize, strip the citizenship from Ilhan Omar because her arrival here was fraudulent from the start. … It would be tremendous.” Kolvet followed up, “It was like Christmas in October, or was it Halloween? You know, with Ilhan Omar, let's go with Halloween. … Anyways, that's the breaking news. She's getting raided. We think it's about a paperwork issue, which could lead to a denaturalization process being pursued with her, which I think would be great for the whole country.” [Rumble, The Charlie Kirk Show, 10/12/26, 10/12/26]

• • Reacting to a Fox News report on the search of Omar’s home, conservative podcaster Dave Rubin said, “This is not a woman who loves America. This is not a woman who should be in America. … This is a bad lady, and finally it appears that we’re going to do something about it.” Holding a box with Omar’s picture on his desk, he said, “You know, it's funny, we have this as the Ilhan Omar puke bucket, but this story is — I may put tequila in it and just drink out of this thing.” [YouTube, The Rubin Report, 10/12/26]

• • Johnson called the administration's actions against Omar his “crowning achievement for life.” He said, “Today is Wednesday, October 14, 2026. Are you celebrating with us? Are you going to celebrate, Omar-mas? I will. Ilhan Omar scandal breaks wide open, and we were part of it, and that's exciting for us. This is our — we tried — we did get Jimmy Kimmel ripped off air. We view that as a massive success for this program. This will be our crowning achievement for life. We may hang it up. We may have to hang it up after this. You're not going to get better than this.” [YouTube, The Benny Show, 10/14/26]

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