Rep Ilhan Omar removed from ICE facility during Minneapolis visit

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., says she and different Minnesota lawmakers have been kicked out of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Minneapolis on Saturday.

Omar visited ICE’s Whipple Constructing with fellow Democratic Rep. Angie Craig of Minnesota, saying they have been fulfilling their oversight roles in Congress. They have been requested to go away the ability after being knowledgeable of a brand new Trump administration rule relating to visits by lawmakers.

“We have been initially invited to conduct our congressional oversight and train our Article I duties,” Omar advised reporters after the incident. “After we entered, it was with the permission of somebody who has been right here a very long time, who understood that we had an obligation from Congress to enter the constructing and tour the ability.”

“Shortly after we have been allowed in, two officers got here in and mentioned that they had obtained a message that we have been not allowed within the constructing and that they have been withdrawing our invitation and denying any additional entry to the constructing,” she continued.

JEFFRIES CALLS NAME ‘STONE COLD LIAR’ OVER MINNEAPOLIS SHOOTING REACTION, DEMAND INVESTIGATIONS

Rep. Ilhan Omar, middle, joined by Reps. Kelly Morrison, left, and Angie Craig, arrive outdoors the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Constructing on Jan. 10, 2026, in Minneapolis. (Stephen Maturen/Getty Photographs)

President Donald Trump’s administration on Saturday imposed a brand new rule requiring lawmakers to present no less than per week’s discover earlier than coming into an ICE facility.

This transfer is the federal government’s second try and concern such an order. A federal choose beforehand struck down the same demand from Homeland Safety Secretary Kristi Noem, ruling that federal spending legal guidelines require members of Congress to have unrestricted entry to receiving services.

Lawmakers examine SBA loans linked to Minnesota’s $9 billion fraud scandal: ‘reckless decision-making’

Omar mentioned her group was capable of briefly query officers inside the ability about inmate hygiene and different matters. She described the solutions she obtained as “insane” and argued that officers downplayed how lengthy inmates stayed on the facility.

Consultant Ilhan Omar arrives for an oversight go to on the Whipple Constructing on Saturday, January 10, 2026. (Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg through Getty Photographs)

Federal officers say the brand new resolution is per federal regulation as a result of funding for the ability comes from the One Massive Lovely Invoice Act relatively than from congressional appropriations.

DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin elaborated on Omar’s removing in an announcement to reporters, arguing that lawmakers entered the ability “for the specific objective of monitoring down ICE officers they believed have been staying there.”

U.S. Border Patrol brokers detain an individual close to Roosevelt Excessive Faculty throughout dismissal time as federal immigration enforcement actions induced unrest in Minneapolis on Jan. 7, 2026. (Kerem Yucel/AFP through Getty Photographs)

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

“For the protection of detainees and workers, and in accordance with the company’s mandate, members of Congress have been suggested that their go to was inappropriate and in violation of present court docket orders and insurance policies that require members of Congress to inform ICE no less than seven days upfront of congressional visits,” she mentioned.