Ilhan Omar has spent years shielding Minnesota's Somali community from scrutiny.
That protection racket just came crashing down.
And Ilhan Omar got some bad news that confirmed her worst fears.
Trump's ICE surge is coming for Omar's Minnesota stronghold
DHS Advisor Corey Lewandowski delivered the message that has Ilhan Omar in full panic mode.
"In the coming days and weeks, you WILL see a dramatic change in posture in that community," Lewandowski stated on Benny Johnson's podcast. "This is a major story that requires intervention to fix the problem. If you are doing something illegal in that community, I recommend you self-deport."
ICE and Border Patrol agents are mobilizing for the largest coordinated enforcement operation in Minnesota history targeting Somali-dominated neighborhoods where the biggest fraud scheme in American history has been operating.
Federal prosecutors have indicted 86 people in the Feeding Our Future scandal.¹
Get this: 79 of those 86 defendants are of Somali descent.²
These criminals exploited federal programs meant to feed hungry children during the pandemic and pocketed at least $250 million.³
One defendant claimed his tiny grocery store that seats 35 people served 18,000 meals per day.⁴
Another ran a banquet hall that supposedly served 2,500 meals daily to children who didn't exist.⁵
The fraud was so brazen that investigators say Minnesota became the shame of the nation.
Stolen taxpayer money funded al-Shabaab terrorists
Wait, it gets worse.
Current and former federal sources confirmed to NewsNation that stolen Minnesota taxpayer dollars ended up financing al-Shabaab, the al-Qaeda-linked terrorist organization that controls parts of Somalia.⁶
Read that again: Minnesota taxpayers have been unwittingly funding Islamic terrorists.
"The largest funder of al-Shabaab is the Minnesota taxpayer," investigators concluded.⁷
This is the same terrorist group that trained operative Cholo Abdi Abdullah to hijack a commercial aircraft and crash it into a U.S. building in a 9/11-style attack.⁸
A former Joint Terrorism Task Force member explained the money laundering operation.
"Although there are legitimate refugees here and they do have a right to send money back, the system is way too untracked, way too wild," the investigator said. "People are committing crimes, and that money is going back to Somalia."⁹
President Trump ended Temporary Protected Status for Somalis in Minnesota and called out what everyone can see.
"Minnesota has become a hub of fraudulent money laundering," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "Somali gangs are terrorizing the people of that great state and billions of dollars are missing."¹⁰
More than 4,000 Somali nationals currently have final orders of removal.¹¹
Nearly half of all Somali immigrants in Minneapolis are living in the country illegally, according to ICE data.¹²
And Omar knows it.
Omar's desperate defense exposes her real priorities
Omar raced to the State Capitol rotunda to defend the very community that's been robbing Americans blind.
"We do not blame the lawlessness of an individual on a whole community," Omar lectured the crowd.¹³
That's rich coming from someone who screams about "systemic racism" every time a cop arrests a criminal.
But when her Somali constituents steal a quarter billion dollars and send it to terrorists?
Suddenly we can't notice patterns.
Omar doubled down with typical arrogance on social media.
"I am a citizen and so are majority of Somalis in America," she posted on X. "Good luck celebrating a policy change that really doesn't have much impact on the Somalis you love to hate. We are here to stay."¹⁴
That bravado is about to age like milk.
Omar herself faces serious questions about her immigration status that she's never adequately answered.
Multiple sources in Minnesota's Somali community claim she committed immigration fraud by marrying her biological brother to get him papers.¹⁵
"She said she needed to get papers for her brother to go to school," a Somali community source told the Daily Mail. "We all thought she was just getting papers to allow him to stay in this country."¹⁶
The FBI investigated but never filed charges.
Convenient.
Republicans demand investigation into terrorist financing network
Minnesota's Republican congressional delegation sent a letter to U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen demanding a full investigation into fraud "winding up in the hands of overseas terrorist organizations."¹⁷
Representatives Tom Emmer, Michelle Fischbach, Brad Finstad, and Pete Stauber want to know how much Minnesota money ended up financing terrorists.
"It is alleged that Minnesota's Somali community has been sending millions back to Somalia" through informal money trafficking schemes, the letter said.¹⁸
The arrest of longtime Somali community leader Omar Jamal earlier this year sent the first real warning shot when he spent a month in detention on old immigration fraud charges.¹⁹
His detention shocked the community because everyone assumed he was untouchable.
Nobody's untouchable anymore.
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem made that crystal clear.
"We will evaluate whether to revoke protections for Somali nationals," Noem announced.²⁰
Look at what Omar has been protecting all these years.
A criminal network that stole from American children, sent the money to Islamic terrorists who plotted to murder Americans in a 9/11-style attack, and operated with impunity because questioning them meant you were "racist."
Minnesota Republicans correctly identified this as a RICO case waiting to happen.
George Soros-funded organizations have been running interference for these fraud operations while state officials were terrified to crack down because they didn't want to be accused of discrimination.
That generosity is over.
ICE is coming.
Omar can't stop it.
And her entire political identity is built on being the protector of a community that's about to face the largest federal enforcement operation in Minnesota history.
She thought she could shield criminals indefinitely by crying racism every time someone asked questions.
She was wrong.
The Trump administration just called her bluff.
¹ "Are Minnesota taxpayers funding Somali terror group al-Shabbab?," NewsNation, November 25, 2025.
² Ibid.
³ "District of Minnesota | 75th Defendant Charged in Feeding Our Future Fraud Scheme," United States Department of Justice, September 4, 2025.
⁴ "Are Minnesota taxpayers funding Somali terror group al-Shabbab?," NewsNation, November 25, 2025.
⁵ "District of Minnesota | 56th Defendant Pleads Guilty in Feeding Our Future Fraud Scheme," United States Department of Justice, September 18, 2025.
⁶ "Are Minnesota taxpayers funding Somali terror group al-Shabbab?," NewsNation, November 25, 2025.
⁷ "Right-wing reporting on Somali money going to al-Shabaab is not new, still misses the mark," Minnesota Reformer, November 25, 2025.
⁸ "Cholo Abdi Abdullah Convicted for Conspiring to Commit 9/11-Style Attack at the Direction of Al Shabaab," United States Department of Justice, November 7, 2024.
⁹ "Are Minnesota taxpayers funding Somali terror group al-Shabbab?," NewsNation, November 25, 2025.
¹⁰ "Minnesota lawmakers, advocates rally against Trump's pledge to end deportation protections for Somalis," CBS Minnesota, November 24, 2025.
¹¹ "Ilhan Omar Speaks Out After President Trump Announces He's Terminating 'Temporary Protected Status' for Somalis in Minnesota," The Gateway Pundit, November 23, 2025.
¹² "JUST IN: ICE Confirms Terrible News For Ilhan Omar," Trending Politics, October 3, 2025.
¹³ "Minnesota lawmakers, advocates rally against Trump's pledge to end deportation protections for Somalis," CBS Minnesota, November 24, 2025.
¹⁴ "Ilhan Omar Speaks Out After President Trump Announces He's Terminating 'Temporary Protected Status' for Somalis in Minnesota," The Gateway Pundit, November 23, 2025.
¹⁵ "JUST IN: ICE Confirms Terrible News For Ilhan Omar," Trending Politics, October 3, 2025.
¹⁶ Ibid.
¹⁷ "Federal investigation into Minnesota's 'terrorist' fraud called for by GOP," Fox 9 Minneapolis, November 25, 2025.
¹⁸ Ibid.
¹⁹ "Minnesota Somali activist Omar Jamal released from ICE custody," Sahan Journal, October 3, 2025.
²⁰ "Minnesota lawmakers, advocates rally against Trump's pledge to end deportation protections for Somalis," CBS Minnesota, November 24, 2025.
