Ilhan Omar, Minn. Dems Booted From ICE Headquarters

A protest outside federal immigration headquarters in Minneapolis devolved into a political spectacle Saturday after Reps. Ilhan Omar, Angie Craig, and Kelly Morrison were denied entry and escorted out of the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, which houses a regional Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office and immigration court.

The Democratic lawmakers arrived without prior notice, telling reporters they intended to conduct “oversight” amid intensified scrutiny of immigration enforcement following a fatal ICE-involved shooting earlier in the week.

Video circulating online showed security personnel blocking the congresswomen from entering the ICE processing center. Officials later allowed them a brief walk-through of the public lobby before ordering them to leave, citing a lack of authorization to access secure areas.

“I was just denied access to the ICE processing center at the Whipple Building,” Omar wrote on X. “Members of Congress have a legal right and constitutional responsibility to conduct oversight where people are being detained. The public deserves to know what is taking place in ICE facilities.”

KMSP-TV confirmed the lawmakers were ultimately escorted from the premises.

Rep. Angie Craig later told MSNOW, “We were told because this facility is being funded by the Big Beautiful Bill, not the congressional appropriations act, that we would not be allowed to enter the facility. That’s complete nonsense. I informed them they were violating the law. They said they didn’t care.”

Rep. Kelly Morrison said officials offered the same justification, referencing President Donald J. Trump’s second-term “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” which funds certain federal enforcement facilities directly under executive authority rather than through traditional appropriations.

Trump administration officials defended the decision, saying the lawmakers were not part of any authorized congressional inspection and that the facility was operating under heightened security protocols.

“Oversight must follow the law,” a senior Department of Homeland Security official said. “These members were not on any approved review team, and the facility was under operational security status at the time.”

The confrontation followed days of unrest in Minneapolis after an activist was fatally shot by an ICE agent, an incident that sparked protests and renewed attacks on federal immigration enforcement.

The drama did not end at the ICE facility.

Hours later, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) intensified scrutiny of Omar, saying she remains “at the top of the suspect list” in Minnesota’s widening welfare fraud scandals.

Comer told journalist Alison Steinberg that formal ethics complaints against Omar are expected, stressing that Congress must police itself regardless of party.

“Anybody that has information on a member of Congress, bring that to the Ethics Committee, and they’ll investigate it,” Comer said. “We need to hold them accountable.”

The controversy builds on disclosures from Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA), who revealed that Omar secured a $1 million earmark for a purported substance abuse clinic allegedly “housed inside a restaurant and run by three individuals who share the same residential address.” The earmark was later stripped from the spending bill.

Comer also raised questions about Omar’s husband, Tim Mynett, whose firm Rose Lake Capital reportedly jumped in valuation from under $1,000 in 2023 to between $5 million and $25 million in 2024. The firm has since removed references to prominent Democratic figures from its website.

“Minnesota has become the epicenter of one of the largest taxpayer thefts in U.S. history,” Comer said. “We’re going to find out who was involved, who looked the other way, and who got rich off it.”

After being turned away from a federal ICE facility and facing escalating ethics scrutiny on Capitol Hill, Omar now finds herself under mounting pressure — both in Minnesota and in Washington.