U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN) faced immediate fact-checking from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) after she referenced a false and retracted story in a post advocating for the abolition of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Omar cited a now-deleted NBC News article titled, “Video shows ICE with 5-year-old girl while agents attempt to arrest her father,” stating, “This is vile and beyond cruel. Abolish ICE,” in her post on X.
The original NBC report lacked context regarding the arrest, claiming the footage, obtained by Telemundo Nueva Inglaterra, depicted ICE agents with a 5-year-old girl, whose mother stated the child is autistic, as they attempted to apprehend her father near their home in Massachusetts.
The article portrayed the father sympathetically, mentioning that he had called his wife to say he was being followed before fleeing back to their residence, leaving the girl with the agents. The girl’s mother is heard in the video pleading, “They took my daughter, she’s 5 years old. She has autism spectrum. Give me my daughter back.”
NBC initially alleged that ICE used the child as “bait” to arrest her father, but the article was removed following DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin’s clarification on the incident via her own post on X.
“This is a vile lie. [Ilhan Omar’s] habitual lies and demonization of our law enforcement is what’s cruel,” McLaughlin stated. “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,” she continued.
According to McLaughlin, the suspect, Edwards Hip Mejia, ignored law enforcement signals to pull over and fled to his house, leaving his daughter in the vehicle. Officers rescued the child and notified local police regarding the abandonment.
Mejia, originally from Guatemala and a U.S. resident for approximately 25 years, is currently detained at an ICE facility in Plymouth, two days following the incident, as confirmed by his wife, who requested anonymity.
At the end of its article, NBC News issued a retraction of its earlier reporting, stating, “An earlier version of this article mischaracterized the activities of ICE agents in the video. The article has been updated.”
