Federal agency Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) are publicly feuding over the congresswoman’s claim that officers pulled over her son in a traffic stop in Minnesota.
Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons clarified on Tuesday that his personnel had no record of pulling over Omar’s son following the Omar’s initial statement on Sunday that her son was stopped by ICE in Minnesota.
“ICE has absolutely ZERO record of its officers or agents pulling over Congresswoman Omar’s son. It speaks volumes that Congresswoman Omar is leveling this accusation with absolutely zero proof,” acting ICE Director Todd Lyons said in a statement to the Washington Examiner.
Lyons called Omar’s allegation a “ridiculous effort to unfairly demonize our law enforcement officers” and behavior that is “directly contributing to the more than 1,150% increase in assaults and 8,000% increase in death threats against my officers and agents.”
“Allegations that ICE engages in ‘racial profiling’ are disgusting, reckless and categorically FALSE,” the statement continued. “A person’s immigration status makes them a target for enforcement, not their skin color, race or ethnicity. Law enforcement uses ‘reasonable suspicion’ to make arrests, as allowed under the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.”
In response to Lyons’ statement, Omar’s spokeswoman doubled down that ICE had pulled over Omar’s son and accused ICE of failing to keep accurate records.
“The congresswoman’s son and others were pulled over by ICE, racially profiled, and forced to prove their citizenship with a passport,” Omar’s spokeswoman wrote in an email Tuesday morning. “ICE has long operated as a rogue agency beyond reform. It’s no surprise that an agency known for disappearing people also can’t keep its records straight. ICE now claims it has records of all the stops, and our office would welcome the opportunity to review them.”
Omar claimed in an interview with CBS News affiliate WCCO that federal officers had pulled over her son and asked him for identification.
“Yesterday, after he made a stop at Target, he did get pulled over by ICE agents, and once he was able to produce his passport ID, they did let him go,” Omar told WCCO Sunday Morning.
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ICE personnel are targeting Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota, right now following the discovery of $1 billion in state welfare funds that were wrongly distributed to fraudulent organizations. The defendants are largely illegal immigrants from Somalia.
Omar’s office did immediately respond to requests for comment.