U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) was fact-checked by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) after she quoted a retracted story in a post in which she called for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to be abolished.

Omar was referring 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.

While failing to provide any context on the case or the arrest, NBC reported 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 painted a sympathetic picture of the father, stating that the girl’s mother told NBCUniversal that he called her to say he was being followed, at which point he managed to run back to the parking lot of her residence, thus 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.”

TP reports: NBC News initially claimed that DHS used the 5-year-old as “bait” in order to arrest her father. The outlet quietly deleted their post on the matter after DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin provided additional details on the incident and the suspect in an X post of her own.

“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.

“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.”

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

Mejia is originally from Guatemala and has lived in the United States for about 25 years, his wife, who asked to remain anonymous, told NBC Boston. He is currently being held at an ICE detention center in Plymouth after being detained two days after the incident.

At the bottom of its article, NBC News quietly issued a retraction of its initial reporting.

“An earlier version of this article mischaracterized the activities of ICE agents in the video. The article has been updated,” the correction reads.