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 Washington Post reported.
The earlier review examined Omar’s background, her family’s history as Somali refugees and allegations surrounding her marriage. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the investigative arm of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ultimately found insufficient evidence of wrongdoing, according to three former immigration officials cited by the newspaper.
The review’s findings are significant because federal authorities are now investigating whether Omar or her late father provided false information on immigration documents to obtain legal status and eventual US citizenship.
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The renewed investigation became public on October 12, 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, the Washington Post reported.
What did the earlier investigation find?
According to the report, 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. The Washington Post described those claims as unsubstantiated.
Investigators also examined questions about Omar’s birth date and her father’s past military service. Three former officials involved in the earlier review told the newspaper that these issues had been considered at the time.
HSI ultimately determined that there was insufficient evidence of wrongdoing, one former official said. The idea of pursuing a full investigation was eventually abandoned.
“I think her citizenship is solid and there wasn’t any fraud there,” the former official told the Washington Post.
Why are US authorities investigating Omar again?
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.
The newspaper reported that investigators had 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. Neither wrongdoing nor a legal basis for revoking her citizenship has been established publicly.
Omar alleges political targeting
Omar has rejected the allegations and accused the Trump administration of using federal law enforcement against political opponents.
“Trump has spread lie after lie about the Congresswoman in a desperate attempt to justify his extraordinary abuse of power,” her spokesperson said in a statement quoted by the Washington Post, describing the investigation as politically motivated.
Omar was born in Somalia, arrived in the United States with her family in 1995 and became a US citizen in 2000. She was elected to Congress in 2018.