Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) was fact-checked by the Department of Homeland Security after she cited a retracted story in a post calling for the abolition of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Her post regarding the debunked story comes as another armed attack took place at an ICE detention facility in Texas, where reports said on Wednesday there were fatalities.
Omar was speaking reference to a story from NBC News titled, “Video shows ICE with 5-year-old girl while agents attempt to arrest her father,” which has since been deleted by the outlet. “This is vile and beyond cruel. Abolish ICE,” the far-left congresswoman posted on X.
NBC reported, without providing any context, that the footage was obtained by Telemundo Nueva Inglaterra and showed “Immigration and Customs Enforcement with a 5-year-old girl, whose mother says she is autistic, while agents attempted to arrest her father near their Massachusetts home.”
The story portrays the father in a sympathetic light, noting that the girl’s mother informed NBCUniversal that he called her to report he was being followed. At that moment, he managed to run back to the parking lot of her residence, leaving the girl with the agents.
“They took my daughter, she’s 5 years old. She has autism spectrum,” the girl’s mother is heard telling agents in the video. “Give me my daughter back.”
NBC News initially reported that DHS had used a 5-year-old as “bait” to arrest her father but later deleted the post. DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin vehemently disputed the claim in a post on X, providing additional details about the incident and the suspect.
“This is a vile lie [Ilhan Omar’s] habitual lies and demonization of our law enforcement is what’s cruel,” McLaughlin wrote. “ICE agents NEVER used a 5-year-old girl as ‘bait.’ The criminal illegal alien target —with previous arrests for domestic abuse and strangulation, among other charges—ABANDONED his own child in a car,” the post continued.
This is a vile lie. @IlhanMN’s habitual lies and demonization of our law enforcement is what’s cruel.
ICE agents NEVER used a 5-year-old girl as “bait.” The criminal illegal alien target —with previous arrests for domestic abuse and strangulation, among other charges—ABANDONED… https://t.co/gwRCqX17rn
— Tricia McLaughlin (@TriciaOhio) September 23, 2025
“The target, Edwards Hip Mejia, ignored law enforcement emergency lights to pull over and drove back to his house. He fled from the car, gave officers the double middle finger, and darted inside his house. He abandoned his 5-year-old daughter in the car. Officers helped rescue the child and called local police to report the abandonment,” McLaughlin added.
