Federal agents conducted a pre-dawn search Monday at the Washington home of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) as part of an ongoing immigration probe, a DOJ spokesperson confirmed to Axios.

Why it matters: Searching Omar's home marks a substantial escalation of the Trump administration's fight with the outspoken progressive, who has condemned the immigration crackdown in her state.

  • It's also an unusual move against a candidate less than a month before an election, something the Justice Department has typically avoided.

The latest: President Trump said authorities are looking at Omar "very carefully" when asked whether he knew about the search of her home in advance.

  • "I've always found her to be totally crooked personally, but that has nothing to do with me," Trump said.
  • "I think she's a terrible person. She comes from a country that is a non-country."

What they're saying: "I'm ok. Make no mistake: this is an attempt to target political enemies and weaponize federal law enforcement," Omar said in a Monday afternoon post to X.

  • "For ten years, Trump has targeted me with baseless lies and smear campaigns. This is just the latest escalation in his campaign of political intimidation. I will not be silenced."

Driving the news: Fox News first reported that Homeland Security Investigations agents conducted the search, citing a Justice Department statement.

  • A DOJ spokesperson confirmed to Axios that DHS agents "executed a judicially authorized search warrant secured by the Department of Justice" as part of an ongoing federal criminal investigation.
  • DHS referred Axios to the DOJ.

The other side: Omar's office blasted the search.

  • "This raid by Trump's DHS is an outrageous abuse of power and an unprecedented escalation in the weaponization of federal law enforcement to target political enemies," Omar spokesperson Jacklyn Rogers said in a statement.
  • "The Congresswoman has done nothing wrong."
  • House Democratic leaders separately issued a joint statement calling the search "deeply disturbing" and part of a "rogue abuse of power" by the administration.

Zoom out: Last month, border czar Tom Homan confirmed an ongoing criminal probe into Omar, though he declined to offer details.

  • Fox reported Monday that the search was tied to a fraud investigation into Omar's immigration paperwork.
  • The Somali native came to the U.S. in 1995 as a 12-year-old refugee.

Between the lines: Trump has for years demanded that Omar leave the country or be deported, citing, among other things, unsubstantiated claims that she married her brother to help him circumvent immigration laws.

  • Omar has dismissed the claims about the marriage in question as "baseless rumors."
  • Trump has made Minnesota's Somali community one of the most frequent targets of his anti-immigration rhetoric, and Omar the face of those attacks.
  • Just last week, he called on Minnesotans to "fight back" against the state's Somali population.

Editor's note: This story has been updated with comments from President Trump, as well as statements from Omar, her House office and House Democratic leaders, and with more context.

Andrew Solender and Torey Van Oot contributed reporting.