Ilhan Omar got cornered by a Fox reporter in the Capitol this week, and the exchange is worth reading closely, because it tells you more than any press release ever will.
Asked whether the government had returned her devices, she said she’d gotten most of them back, thank you. Asked whether DHS and DOJ were running two investigations or one, she said she wasn’t sure, and suggested the reporter probably had more details than she did. Asked whether anyone had told her what she’s under investigation for, she headed for the elevator.
Think about what that answer actually claims. Federal agents searched her Washington home in October and carried out boxes. Her family members have received grand jury subpoenas. Her sister’s phone was seized. Her own devices were taken and are only now being returned, “most” of them. And her position is that she’s not sure how many investigations there are or what they’re about.
Nobody in that situation is in the dark. You have lawyers. The lawyers have been dealing with prosecutors for months. You know the subpoena categories, you know who’s been called, you know which statutes are in play, and you know exactly how bad it is. What she gave that reporter wasn’t ignorance. It was the posture a person takes when any specific answer makes things worse.
That’s the same instinct that produced “not to my knowledge” when she was asked whether she’d married her brother — a woman who called the allegation insane, then declined to deny it flatly when a microphone was running.
John Roberts: Wow, that’s different. Well, breaking right now, Minnesota Democrat Ilhan Omar talking to Fox about the federal investigations into her immigration history and not offering any answers.
Reporter: We’re just wondering if the government’s giving you your devices back after you tried?
Ilhan Omar: I’ve gotten most of them back, thank you.
Reporter: And are they doing an investigation, Homeland and DOJ, two separate investigations or just one?
Ilhan Omar: I’m not sure. You probably have more details on that.
Reporter: Have they told you exactly what you’re under investigation for? Have they told you anything?
John Roberts: All right, let’s bring in border czar Tom Homan. So she is playing coy there. "I know nothing about the investigations." It strikes me that she probably knows everything there is to possibly know about the investigations. But going to the horse’s mouth, what’s up with the investigations?
Tom Homan: Well, like Omar, I’m not going to tell him either. I mean, I’m not going to show her hand. I’ve been told it’s a strong investigation. We’ll let the evidence lead where it leads, but we’ll see what happens. But I cannot discuss the ongoing investigation.
John Roberts: Can you confirm that she does know the details of the investigation? That she knows the details? She acted clueless there.
Tom Homan: Yeah. Well, that’s the way it should be. I mean, she’ll be presented with the evidence when the evidence comes to light, and if the evidence leads to a criminal charge, she’ll be notified.
John Roberts: Okay. What can you share with us on this, as the American public is sort of watching this play out in real time?
Tom Homan: I can tell you DHS and DOJ are working very hard in this case. I’ve been told this is a strong case, but as far as the details of what evidence they have, I’m not going to discuss it. We’ll let the evidence play out, and we’ll let DOJ make the announcements that they need to make.
John Roberts: All right, so this will happen at some point. We’ll get an announcement. Wanted to ask you about this hijacking that occurred — it wasn’t a hijacking per se, but it was the threat of a hijacking — occurred between Newark and New Orleans the other night. The person who was charged is Rony Alexander Gomez-Alberto. Take a look at this immigration timeline, Tom. September 2011, he entered illegally, was deported. October 2014, he came back, was again deported. He came back a third time in 2019, and then in January of 2020 he was released from ICE custody. How in the world did that happen?
Tom Homan: He was ordered released by — you know, I looked into this today — he was ordered released by an immigration judge who gave him status. He made a claim, the court heard it, they gave him status. Now, I’ll say this. That status he was given does not prevent him being deported if he’s convicted of these crimes. So we got to make sure the state is prosecuting him, the FBI’s prosecuting him. We got to make sure we convict him of these crimes, because then he can be deported regardless of his status.
John Roberts: I mean, his actions on that plane were downright scary, Tom. I mean, he tried to storm the cockpit. He was, you know, stopped by crew members who ushered him in the back. Thank God that plane was able to land safely. But the American public sees this happening, says, are there more out there, and why was this guy ever able to even get on the plane?
Tom Homan: Again, because an immigration judge awarded him a status, so he wasn’t technically illegally in the United States. Again, the status he was awarded does not prevent him from being deported if he’s convicted of these crimes. Look, this is why President Trump’s in the Oval Office. President Trump has created the most secure border in the history of this nation. This guy may have come back two or three times in the past, but times have changed. Once he gets deported, there’s no cakewalk anymore coming across that border. I mean, in the last 18 months, not one single illegal alien has been released from the border, and President Trump’s made a promise we’re going to continue that for the next 24 months.
John Roberts: Yeah. I mean, I can’t figure out why he was released in the first place, because he committed a felony by re-entering the United States and then entered a third time. So that’s two felonies, and yet he was still released. The migrant caravans are back to Tapachula, Mexico, where a migrant caravan is trying to make its way toward the U.S. border, which very soon will be in Democratic hands all the way across the Rio Grande. Barely a week into the elections and already the pull factor is back again. Here’s what one person who was a member of that caravan told Fox News. Listen here.
Translator: We are seeing it this way because we know that the Democrats are not going to let a point as big as the Latino vote be lost, and I think they’re going to give us the opportunity to reach to our new homes and our new opportunities.
John Roberts: Well, it might take a couple of years for them to reach, quote, their new homes and the new opportunities, but this is going to cause a problem for CBP on the border, because you’re gonna have all these people trying to get across. And then what happens if a Democrat wins the White House in 2028?
Tom Homan: Well, bottom line is, again, we got the most secure border in the history of this nation. Congress may be more blue. Texas may be more blue. But the White House is red, bright red. And again, President Trump created the most secure border in history. These caravans come to the border all they want. They’re not gonna be released in the United States. They’re gonna be turned around, or prosecuted, then turned around, because we will charge them with a crime so they can sit in jail, serve their sentence, before they’re deported. But we’re not giving one inch on this border. This is the most secure border in history. We’re gonna keep it secure, because we got President Trump in the White House who’s not gonna let this border become chaotic again, and neither will I. We’re gonna keep that border secure. So come all you want. But again, Mexico needs to step up like they did in Trump 45. They need to put troops on their southern border, northern border. It’s against the law in Mexico to transit that country if you’re from another country without a transit visa. So they’re breaking Mexico’s law too. Mexico needs to step up. But we’re going to secure the border, most secure border ever, and no one’s gonna be released at that border. So come all you want. You’re gonna be highly disappointed.
John Roberts: Yeah, and just before you go, Tom—
Tom Homan: The Democrats can’t change that. The Democrats can’t change that.
John Roberts: Just, Tom, this final thought on that. Are you getting indications that because of the outcome of the midterm elections, that there will be more of this, and that they are going to be stacking up in numbers heading to the border?
Tom Homan: Yes, and the same thing happened during the Trump, and when Biden won the race. And, you know, the last race, when Biden won president. Once all the polls showed him winning, and then he actually won, you know, we caught the Biden effect. The caravan started. They all started in this. I knew if the Democrats could control the Congress, this would happen. However, President Trump’s in the Oval Office. He will secure that border and continue to secure that border. They’re not going to be released. The Democrats can’t change the fact the executive branch will continue to enforce law. Look, elections don’t change laws. The same laws we’ve been enforcing in the last two years, we’re going to enforce for the next two years, and they can’t stop that.
John Roberts: All right. Well, we’ll see what happens in the next presidential election and how that might affect things. Tom, always good to catch up with you.
Sandra Smith: Appreciate you, Tom. Thank you.
Tom Homan: Good to see you.
John Roberts: All right.
— corgo (@wordsdematthew) November 12, 2026
Tom Homan, asked about it on Fox, declined to discuss the details but said he’s been told it’s a strong investigation and that the evidence will lead where it leads. Pressed on whether Omar actually knows what she’s facing, he said she’ll be presented with the evidence when it comes to light, and if it leads to a criminal charge, she’ll be notified. Read between those lines.
Here’s why she’s right to be scared, and why the victory speech was bravado rather than confidence.
The criminal exposure is one track, slow and uncertain, and a friendly venue can absorb a lot of evidence. But the citizenship question runs on a different and far shorter track. Tom Emmer laid it out this week: derivative citizenship through a naturalizing parent requires being under eighteen. Her father naturalized in 2000. Her birth year was listed as 1981 until her staff asked a Minnesota library to change it to 1982 — in May 2019, which is a curious moment to start caring about a birthday. If 1981 is correct, she never derived anything, and the citizenship was never hers to begin with.
Emmer says no expulsion vote would even be required, because the Constitution limits House membership to citizens. He says DOJ is finalizing the birth-date determination, and that four separate matters are under review.
She won her district by thirty-odd points. That was never the hard part. The hard part is that none of it is up to Minneapolis.
She knows that. It’s why she ran for the elevator.
