Breaking Down the Ilhan Omar Investigation

There is a lot of noise around Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn. An avowed enemy of President Donald Trump, champion of her Somali constituents, member of the ultra-woke “Squad,” and darling of left-wing Democrats, she is a polarizing figure. That does not entitle her to special protection, nor should it subject her to undue legal scrutiny.

Let’s take a look at the various legal issues she faces.

Immigration Fraud

From 2020 to 2022, I was consul general in Nairobi, Kenya, a country that hosts a large population of Somalis who fled the country’s corruption, famines, feckless governments, civil wars, and lawlessness.

Most brought few, if any, papers with them. Back in Somalia, civil documents weren’t always issued, and many were destroyed in the country’s endemic fighting. Even when documents do exist, official corruption makes names, dates, and other facts easy to change.

However, once a name and date of birth have been established with a functional government like that of the United States, even if based on false information, immigrants must stick to their story. Lying on one’s application—known as “material misrepresentation” under the Immigration and Nationality Act—renders a person ineligible for visa or other immigration benefits, absent a waiver.

U.N. agencies and foreign governments filter the Kenyan refugee camps for candidates for resettlement further abroad. Omar’s immigration history is opaque. Her family seems to have been adopted or petitioned by another family during their exit from Kenya, and they separated when leaving. Her ex-husband and alleged brother, Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, ended up a refugee in England and not in the U.S. with Ilhan.

There are several outstanding accusations against Omar or her family. It’s important to note here that she denies any wrongdoing and that nothing adverse has been proven.

The accusations include that:

• Her father, Nur Omar Mohamed, committed fraud in his refugee application and/or subsequent permanent residence and citizenship applications. He may have given a false name or date of birth or left off the forms his full career in the Somali military. This could be important because, as an army officer under the dictator Mohammed Siad Barre during a violent period, he may have committed acts that disqualified him from refugee status.
• Her father never naturalized as a U.S. citizen at all.
• One or more of the claimed family relationships between Omar and her parents and siblings are fraudulent.
• Omar married her brother, Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, in 2009 and petitioned for him to come to the U.S. as her immediate relative. A marriage to a sibling is not valid for U.S. immigration purposes.
• Omar falsified her date of birth so that she appeared to be a minor at the time her father naturalized (became a citizen). This is material because if she was under 18, she would have automatically become a citizen too, as his dependent, whereas if she was over 18, she would have had to do it herself.

Most of these accusations ought to be easy to verify or disprove. People generally keep their naturalization certificates, and if not, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services should have records.

Harder to prove would be family relationships. DNA tests can prove blood relationships, but aliens often present fraudulent adoption, marriage, and divorce evidence to obtain immigration benefits. The least probative evidence is affidavits from (often illiterate) family and friends. Unfortunately, this is often all U.S. officials have to go on.

Passport or Document Fraud

If Omar knowingly used a false date of birth in applying for her passport, driver’s license, or other official document once in the U.S., she could run afoul of federal or state criminal statutes. If she applied for bank loans or mortgages under a false identity, she could be liable for federal fraud charges.

Fraud in Welfare Programs

Thousands of Somalis came to the U.S. over the past 30 years through the U.S. Refugee Assistance Program, asylum applications, or related family chain migration. Many were settled in Minnesota through the Lutheran church’s refugee resettlement charity.

Minnesota offers a generous range of public benefits for those who need them. Historically, the state had a reputation for low crime and high civic responsibility. Somalia, in contrast, is rated the second-most corrupt country on Earth by Transparency International, with little central government or law enforcement. It’s the ultimate “low-trust” society.

In recent years, independent media has uncovered a tangle of organized welfare fraud based in ethnic Somali networks. In the Feeding Our Future fraud scheme, around 90 people, mostly ethnic Somalis, reportedly stole more than $250 million between 2020 and 2022.

Omar’s sister, Sahra Noor, reportedly listed a Minnesota home address when she incorporated her organization, Grit Partners Consulting. That address was shared with people convicted in the Feeding Our Future scheme.

There have been subsequent revelations about organized fraud in Medicaid and Medicare programs led by Somali immigrants. According to a Center for Immigration Studies report, of Somali immigrant households with children, 86% are on Medicaid, compared with only 28% of Minnesota households headed by a native-born citizen.

Some of those arrested participated in public events, donated money, or otherwise interacted with Minnesota politicians, including Rep. Omar. If she knowingly facilitated, covered up, or profited from fraud schemes like this one, she could be criminally liable.

How Does This End?

The search of Omar’s Washington, D.C., home was carried out by Homeland Security Investigations, a branch of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a sub-agency of the Department of Homeland Security. HSI agents are experienced in immigration fraud and know what to look for in civil and immigration documents. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services should have electronic or paper copies of some relevant documents, and they have a forensics laboratory specializing in fraud and forgery.  

Sooner or later, we will know what really happened with Omar’s immigration to the United States from Somalia via Kenya.

Ideally, this would all have been resolved well before the November elections, but better late than never.

In 2023, Omar approved of various investigations into Donald Trump, then in between his presidencies. She said then that “the fact that one of the most powerful people in the world was investigated impartially and indicted is testament to the fact that we still live in a nation of laws. And no one is above the law.”

Words to live by.

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