Ilhan Omar, the first and only Somali-born lawmaker to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives, has been criticized by conservatives regarding her background for years prior to Monday's raid at her home in Washington.
Omar, 44, was born in Mogadishu, Somalia, and fled the country's civil war with her family when she was just 8 years old. They then spent four years in a refugee camp in Kenya before migrating to the United States in the 1990s, according to her official House biography.
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"In 1997, she moved to Minneapolis with her family," the bio continues. "As a teenager, Rep. Omar's grandfather inspired her to get involved in politics. Before running for office, she worked as a community educator at the University of Minnesota, was a Policy Fellow at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs and served as a Senior Policy Aide for the Minneapolis City Council."
Omar, who represents Minnesota's 5th District, including Minneapolis, was elected to the House in 2018, becoming the first African refugee to serve in Congress, the first woman of color to represent Minnesota and one of just two Muslim-American women ever voted into the chamber along with Michigan's Rashida Tlaib.
Monday's search follows months of federal scrutiny into Omar's immigration history, as confirmed last month by Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, who has said authorities were examining an accusation that she married her brother to help him enter the United States. Omar has repeatedly denied the unsubstantiated allegation.
Here's a closer look at Omar's family, including her husband and siblings, both of whom have been connected to frequent attacks by critics regarding the Minnesota lawmaker.
Who is Ilhan Omar's Father?
Ilhan Omar's father was Nur Omar Mohamed, a Somali educator and former military officer who helped raise her after her mother died when Omar was a young child. Her father and grandfather played important roles in her upbringing, according to the Congressional Black Caucus.
Mohamed, who later worked as a taxi driver and for the U.S. Postal Service, died in June 2020.
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Who Are Ilhan Omar's Siblings?
Omar is the youngest of seven siblings, although the specific names of her brothers and sisters have not been publicized.
The lawmaker has faced years of controversy over allegations that her former husband, Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, was in fact her biological brother and that their 2009 marriage was intended to help him obtain U.S. immigration benefits. There has never been any public proof of a sibling relationship between Omar and Elmi.
Omar has repeatedly and strenuously denied these allegations, calling them "bigoted lies."
However, that has not stopped members of the Trump administration from repeating the allegations.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed Omar married her brother and just last month, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said at the Republican National Committee’s midterm convention: "We know that she married her brother to try to bring him into the United States."
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Who is Ilhan Omar's Husband, Tim Mynett?
Omar married her third husband, political consultant and businessman Tim Mynett, in March 2020. He graduated from the University at Albany in 2003 with a degree in political science and went on to work in political consulting and fundraising.
Mynett later became a partner in E Street Group, a consulting firm that provided digital advertising, fundraising and campaign services to Omar’s 2019–2020 reelection campaign.
Mynett and Omar announced news of their marriage on Instagram with a photograph of themselves wearing wedding rings, with the lawmaker describing their relationship as having evolved from political partners to life partners.
The couple's personal relationship attracted scrutiny because of E Street Group’s work for Omar’s campaign. A complaint filed with the Federal Election Commission alleged improper use and reporting of campaign funds. Omar, Mynett and the campaign denied wrongdoing, and the FEC subsequently found no reason to believe that campaign funds had been converted to personal use.
Mynett has also since pursued other business ventures, including investment-related activities and a California winery that was shut down in April, weeks after Congressional Republicans demanded answers about the reported wealth of the Minnesota Democrat's family.
Omar had previously filed a 2024 financial disclosure that put her family's assets at between $6 million and $30 million, a surge from the previous year that would have placed her among the wealthiest Democrats in the House.
The bulk of the wealth stemmed from a Santa Rosa, California-based winery, eStCru LLC, which was co-owned by Mynett. California business records show the winery shut down on April 4, two months after House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer wrote to Mynett asking for financial records.
What to Expect Next
In a statement to Newsweek, Justice Department officials confirmed Homeland Security Investigations agents executed a judicially authorized search warrant.
“This enforcement action is part of an ongoing federal criminal investigation,” the agency said, without providing additional details.
The search warrant, executed just 22 days before Election Day, listed a series of potential immigration crimes under investigation, the New York Times reported, including false statements and fraud in immigration paperwork, as well as a general conspiracy charge.
Omar denounced the raid as politically motivated hours after agents searched her Washington home.
"Make no mistake: this is an attempt to target political enemies and weaponize federal law enforcement," Omar wrote Monday on X. "For ten years, Trump has targeted me with baseless lies and smear campaigns. This is just the latest escalation in his campaign of political intimidation. I will not be silenced."
Jacklyn Rogers, Omar’s communications director, characterized the raid as an “outrageous" abuse of power.
"For a decade, Donald Trump has relentlessly targeted Congresswoman Ilhan Omar with inflammatory rhetoric, repeatedly putting a target on her back,” Rogers told Newsweek in a statement. “Now, those attacks have escalated to a pointless federal raid. The Congresswoman has done nothing wrong. No president should be able to use the power of the federal government to intimidate his political enemies."
Newsweek’s reporters and editors used Martyn, our AI assistant, to produce this story. Learn more about Martyn here.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Jenni Fink and Gray R. Thomas