CHICAGO: A federal investigation into how Ilhan Omar, a member of Congress from Minnesota, obtained US citizenship has raised questions about whether she, or her late father, misrepresented her age on immigration documents. If proven, the allegations could expose her to criminal charges, denaturalization and possible deportation.
Federal agents searched her Washington home on Oct. 12, just weeks before the midterm elections on Nov. 3, and seized her phone, computers, passport and other documents. The Justice Department has described the search as part of an ongoing criminal investigation but Omar, the US representative for Minnesota’s 5th congressional district since 2019, has not been charged and the government has not publicly disclosed all of its evidence.
The focus of the probe is reportedly on whether she or her late father, Nur Omar Mohamed, misstated her age on immigration documents. Investigators are examining whether her age was listed as 17, rather than 18, when her father became a US citizen in 2000. This is a key distinction because at the time, minors age 17 or under could be granted citizenship automatically through a parent. Adults, age 18 and over, had to submit an application of their own.
Her father’s past in Somalia is also reportedly under scrutiny. Mohamed, a former cab driver and postal worker, died in 2020 from COVID-19 complications. A New York Post report alleged that he “misrepresented himself as a refugee” despite a decades-long military career, including a leadership position under Somali dictator Siad Barre — a claim that, if verified, could have affected his application.
The probe also touches on long-running, but unproven, allegations that Omar entered the country illegally, and claims that her previous marriage to Ahmed Nur Said Elmi was arranged to help him obtain immigration benefits, including the suggestion that he is actually her brother.
Omar has repeatedly denied the accusations and none of the marriage-related allegations have been established in court.
She also faces a separate inquiry into financial disclosures. This centers on two businesses linked to her husband, Tim Mynett, that appeared to leap in value in her 2025 filing. She amended the filings in April this year to greatly reduce the valuations, and her office said the original figures were mistakes that did not properly account for liabilities and ownership. In September, a congressional ethics watchdog recommended clearing her of any wrongdoing, according to reports.
CNN described the search of her home this month as “unusually aggressive,” and said it targeted possible false statements on government documents and a potential conspiracy. Before signing off on it, US Magistrate Judge Matthew Sharbaugh limited how prosecutors could access materials seized from a sitting lawmaker. The restrictions were intended to protect Omar’s legislative activities, which are shielded from scrutiny by federal prosecutors under the Constitution’s “speech or debate” clause.
Omar’s attorneys said those safeguards were not followed. In a letter to the Department of Justice, they said agents violated “key restrictions” attached to the warrant, failed to promptly provide her legal team with a copy of the warrant, and did not contact the House of Representatives’ Office of General Counsel before the search, as required.
Citing people familiar with the situation, Politico reported on Tuesday that investigators had not yet accessed Omar’s phone. If they attempt to do so, they must first give her a chance to assert protections on speech or debate, and a court would decide what investigators are allowed to see.
Since the raid, investigators have also turned their attention toward Omar’s relatives. Fox News reported on Monday that her sister, author and activist Sahra Noor, “voluntarily” spoke with investigators about Omar’s immigration status. Officials have not confirmed who else was subpoenaed, and Noor did not respond to a request for comment.
The evidence made public so far does not establish that Omar knowingly misrepresented information to obtain US citizenship. The Department of Justice has not publicly presented evidence that she knowingly falsified immigration or citizenship documents, and no court has found her guilty of immigration fraud. The DoJ declined to comment when contacted by Arab News.
“As a general rule, the department declines to comment on ongoing investigations,” a spokesperson said on Tuesday.
Omar previously declined to speak with Arab News and did not respond to another request for comment sent through her campaign website.
US law allows the government to seek the revocation of a naturalized citizen’s citizenship if it was obtained illegally, or secured through the concealment of a material fact or willful misrepresentation.
To denaturalize Omar, the DoJ would have to bring a civil lawsuit in federal court and prove that she or her father willfully misrepresented a material fact, such as her age, in order to obtain citizenship.
If prosecutors brought criminal charges, they could potentially include immigration fraud, false statements on government forms, or conspiracy, depending on the evidence.
Any case based solely on statements made during the original naturalization process could face significant time-limit issues, given that Omar became a citizen more than two decades ago.
Investigators were reportedly examining whether similar information appeared on later documents, such as passport applications, which could raise separate questions about more recent conduct.
If the government successfully revoked Omar’s citizenship, she could face deportation proceedings. Legal experts told CNN that denaturalization was a “relatively rare process” and prosecutors would have to show that any misleading statements were intentional.
Between 2008 and June 12, 2026, 166 denaturalization complaints were filed, according to data gathering and research organization the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse. This represents an annual average of fewer than 10 cases, and a minuscule fraction of the hundreds of thousands of people who become naturalized American citizens each year.
The investigation has also raised concerns about a possible backlash against the Somali-American community. Jaylani Hussein, executive director of the Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, described the rhetoric surrounding Omar and the wider Somali community as “Islamophobic, racist, and xenophobic.”
In the past, some conservative commentators in Muslim American and Somali American circles have criticized Omar’s progressive positions as inconsistent with the socially conservative and deeply religious values held by many within those communities.
In an op-ed published by the Wall Street Journal in 2019, Somali-born author Ayaan Hirsi Ali compared her own experiences with those of Omar, and accused the politician of failing to confront antisemitism within Muslim communities.
Omar has rejected the allegations and accused federal authorities of targeting her for political reasons. Her lawyers described the search this month as “vindictive, retributive and politically motivated.”
Omar has sought to turn the investigation into a rallying call. In a video posted on Tuesday, she thanked supporters who had sent “$5, $10, $20” and said the contributions would help her fight the administration in Washington. She said the coming period would be “very expensive and challenging” and urged supporters to continue donating. Previously, she vowed that she and her allies would not be “intimidated” or “silenced.”
