<\/p>\n
After agents with<\/span> Homeland Security Investigations, a division of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, raided the Washington, D.C., home of Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., on Monday morning, officials who spoke to The Intercept raised questions about whether the raid was political in nature.<\/p>\n Though the investigation into Omar has reportedly<\/a> been ongoing for years, an ICE official working in immigration enforcement suggested the timing of the raid raised questions.<\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s always been a thorn in the side of the Trump administration,\u201d said the ICE official, who spoke to The Intercept on the condition of anonymity to protect their livelihood. \u201cThis has to be politically motivated.\u201d<\/p>\n The raid is the latest of what several officials inside ICE told The Intercept were a series of moves \u2014 policy changes, sweeping initiatives, and, in Omar\u2019s case, a specific operation \u2014 that reflect a scramble to help lift Republicans\u2019 dimming prospects in November\u2019s midterm elections.<\/p>\n In the last month, ICE has undertaken steps like removing vehicle stop training, announcing surges into sanctuary cities, and freezing then quickly unfreezing non-criminal deportations \u2014 what one official called a \u201cmidterm panic move.\u201d<\/p>\n According to analysts, these politically charged moves are rapidly degrading the reputation of law enforcement agencies among many Americans.<\/p>\n \u201cThroughout the Trump administration, we have seen them use law enforcement for overtly political purposes, often directly targeting blue states<\/a> or blue politicians for their actions\u201d said Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a policy analyst and senior fellow at the American Immigration Council. \u201cThis is something that has really been a significant challenge for the reputation of law enforcement, because we have seen so many issues along these lines where there are allegations of these overtly political actions.\u201d<\/p>\n Reporting had linked<\/a> the raid<\/a> on Omar\u2019s home immigration paperwork \u2014 she arrived in the U.S. as a refugee in 1995 and naturalized five years later \u2014 but a second ICE official familiar with the matter questioned that explanation.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is something more than that, there have to be other charges for the substantiation of the warrant because a judge wouldn\u2019t sign something beyond statute of limitations,\u201d said the official, who is with Homeland Security Investigations, the arm of ICE<\/a> that carried out the raid, who also spoke to The Intercept on the condition of anonymity.<\/p>\n An article in the New York Post suggested the investigation might be related to an effort by Omar in 2019, just after she arrived in Congress, to correct her birth year in a Minnesota state legislature library.<\/p>\n The statute of limitations for crimes related to citizenship, according to a Justice Department website, is 10 years. Civil denaturalization proceedings do not have a statute of limitations, but must meet certain conditions, according to Reichlin-Melnick.<\/p>\n \u201cIn order to subject someone to civil denaturalization,\u201d Reichlin-Melnick said, \u201cthe government has must prove either that the person committed fraud or that they were ineligible for naturalization in the first place.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n According to accounts from inside ICE, the moves, allegedly motivated by the midterms, are creating chaos and confusion inside the agency \u2014 and fostering resentment among employees.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are highly trained agents who should be working child exploitation and trafficking cases, instead we are being used as pawns in our administration\u2019s games,\u201d said the Homeland Security Investigations official, touching on a shift away<\/a> from the ICE branch\u2019s traditional areas of focus. \u201cI think everything happening with the agency right now is related to the midterms and to stoke divisive fires.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe are highly trained agents who should be working child exploitation and trafficking cases, instead we are being used as pawns.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n Politically motivated operations started ramping up inside Homeland Security Investigations after federal agents were ordered to pursue a criminal voter fraud probe<\/a> across nine states in early September, according to the first ICE official.<\/p>\n \u201cThe voter fraud initiative was just inefficient and ridiculous,\u201d the official said. \u201cKnocking on doors to question people about voting before you even have evidence to present to them is a non-starter.\u201d<\/p>\n The official added, \u201cDirecting your entire workforce to do that for weeks instead of real criminal investigations is a waste of time.\u201d<\/p>\n With the midterms themselves approaching, fresh controversies engulfed ICE, prompting the administration to react with a string of messy policy changes and public announcements.<\/p>\n As the voter fraud investigations were underway, public backlash erupted<\/a> after immigration officers from ICE\u2019s other division, Enforcement and Removal Operations, or ERO, shot and wounded<\/a> a 28-year-old\u00a0Venezuelan man during a traffic stop in Austin, Texas, on September 20.<\/p>\n Days later, on the weekend of September 25, ICE leadership quietly issued internal orders for a major change that would overhaul nationwide immigration enforcement. The orders directed all deportation officers to stop arresting undocumented immigrants without criminal histories. After news of the orders broke in the right-wing Daily Wire<\/a>, the Department of Homeland Security, ICE\u2019s parent agency, denied<\/a> the story.<\/p>\n Despite the denial, ICE officials operating across the country told The Intercept that the orders were legitimate and stayed in place for nearly a week.<\/p>\n \u201cWe reverted back to Biden-era enforcement,\u201d said one official with Enforcement and Removal Operations, who was ordered to stop all arrest of non-criminal immigrants, including those who had standing deportation orders from immigration judges. \u201cThe DHS denied it but the orders stayed in place for 4-5 days and we followed them.\u201d<\/p>\n Another deportation officer, who also asked for anonymity, described the orders as a \u201cmidterm panic move\u201d in response to the ICE shooting in Austin.<\/p>\n \u201cOur FODS\u201d \u2014 field office directors \u2014 \u201ctold us through our team group chats and word-of-mouth to keep it out of the press, it was never in writing. I think leadership wanted to dial things back after the Austin shooting, but the orders got leaked and it backfired.\u201d<\/p>\n\u201cA Waste of Time\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n
\u201cIt Backfired\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\n