US immigration investigators found insufficient evidence of wrongdoing when they reviewed Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar’s immigration records in 2019, but the Trump administration has revived scrutiny of similar allegations.
The earlier review examined Omar’s background, her family’s history as Somali refugees, and allegations surrounding her marriage. Homeland Security Investigations ultimately found insufficient evidence of wrongdoing, according to former immigration officials.
The findings are significant because federal authorities are currently investigating whether Omar or her late father provided false information on immigration documents to obtain legal status and eventual US citizenship.
The renewed investigation became public when federal agents searched Omar’s Washington, DC, residence. Authorities are revisiting questions about her birth date and her father’s military history in Somalia, issues that had already been examined during the 2019 review.
According to reports, a political appointee in the first Trump administration asked immigration authorities in 2019 to examine Omar’s records for evidence of fraud. The request alarmed career officials because it involved investigating a sitting member of Congress who had become a prominent critic of President Donald Trump.
The review initially focused on allegations involving Omar’s former husband, Ahmed Nur Said Elmi. Conservative commentators had claimed that the two were siblings who entered into a sham marriage to secure US immigration benefits, though those claims were described as unsubstantiated.
Investigators also examined questions about Omar’s birth date and her father’s past military service. Former officials involved in the earlier review stated that these issues had been considered at the time, and the idea of pursuing a full investigation was eventually abandoned due to a lack of evidence.
The current inquiry centers on whether Omar or her father, Nur Omar Mohamed, intentionally misstated information on immigration paperwork. Investigators are examining whether her birth date was altered in a way that affected her eligibility to obtain citizenship through her father’s naturalization in 2000.
Authorities are also scrutinizing whether her father misrepresented or omitted details about his military service in Somalia when seeking legal status in the United States. Investigators have issued more than a dozen subpoenas connected to the inquiry, including some to Omar’s siblings.
Depending on the findings, authorities could pursue criminal charges or seek to challenge her citizenship, though neither wrongdoing nor a legal basis for revoking her citizenship has been established publicly.
Omar has rejected the allegations and accused the administration of using federal law enforcement against political opponents. Her spokesperson described the investigation as politically motivated and a desperate attempt to justify an abuse of power.
Omar was born in Somalia, arrived in the United States with her family in 1995, and became a US citizen in 2000 before being elected to Congress in 2018.