Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, a Somali-born Democrat representing Minnesota, finds herself at the centre of a renewed political storm as Republican colleagues push for a formal investigation into her citizenship status and background.
Core Allegations: Citizenship and a Controversial Marriage
For years, Omar has faced persistent allegations, which she labels "absurd and offensive," that she once married her own brother to facilitate his immigration to the United States. These claims have resurfaced alongside questions about her path to American citizenship and a remarkable increase in her family's wealth, now estimated at around $30 million, managed by her American husband.
The constitutional requirements for serving in the House of Representatives are clear: members must be at least 25, a US citizen for seven years, and a resident of their state. However, eligibility is typically self-certified, with no routine requirement to publicly prove citizenship unless formally challenged by Congress itself.
Omar contends she derived citizenship through her Somali-born father, Nur Omar Mohamed, who she claims naturalised in 2000 when she was a minor. This would have granted her a Certificate of Citizenship (form N-560 or N-561), a document she has declined to produce publicly.
The Investigative Push and Missing Records
This week, Republican Representative Nancy Mace formally asked the House Oversight Committee to subpoena Omar's immigration records. The effort was ultimately halted, with the matter referred to the House Ethics Committee, but it marked a significant escalation of long-circulating claims.
Leading the charge for years has been former Minnesota Republican candidate AJ Kern. Through records requests to US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Kern claims to have found no evidence that Omar's father ever became a naturalised US citizen before his death in 2020.
Kern provided the Daily Mail with a 2023 letter from USCIS stating a search of their database found no record of Nur Omar Mohamed's naturalisation. A separate Department of Homeland Security document provided a "certificate of non-existence" for an official record.
"So he did not naturalise," Kern asserts. "They don't have him in their database. And that means that there is no record of her father becoming a citizen."
A Shifting Birthdate and a Broader Scandal
Kern also alleges a critical discrepancy in Omar's age. She claims Omar's original Minnesota legislative biography listed her birth year as 1981. If true, Omar would have turned 18 in 1999, making her ineligible for automatic derivative citizenship if her father applied in 2000, after the mandatory five-year waiting period.
Kern documented that two days after she posted a video highlighting the 1981 birth year in May 2019, Omar's staff contacted the Minnesota Legislative Reference Library to correct the date to 1982. A library staffer confirmed this sequence of events in writing.
These personal allegations are set against a backdrop of massive fraud in Minnesota's social services, estimated at up to $9 billion over a decade, which local activists like Kern have worked to expose. They argue the state's systems, including voter registration which does not verify citizenship, are vulnerable to abuse.
Liz Collin, a former WCCO anchor now with Alpha News, told the Daily Mail she faced pressure not to report on stories challenging a "woke, left wing viewpoint" post-George Floyd. She reported Kern's claims and says she receives death threats for her work.
When asked why Congress has not previously acted, Kern suggested political fear. "I think it's about votes and money. I think they don't want to be seen as a racist."
Omar has dismissed the allegations. In response to past threats of deportation from figures like Donald Trump, she stated, "I have no worry, I don't know how they'd take away my citizenship... I'm grown; my kids are grown. I could go live wherever I want if I wanted to."
The congresswoman did not respond to requests for comment from the Daily Mail for their report. The ball now lies with the House Ethics Committee to decide if a formal review into her eligibility and background will proceed.
