Ilhan Omar’s Staff Requested Birth Year Change After She Entered Congress
Emails reviewed by the New York Post show that Rep. Ilhan Omar’s congressional staff asked Minnesota’s Legislative Reference Library in May 2019 to change her listed birth year from 1981 to 1982.
The request came months after Omar entered Congress and after a video by a political opponent questioned her age, the Post reported. The library had listed her birthdate as October 4, 1981. Its current biography gives October 4, 1982, and says Omar’s staff sought corrections in other public sources as well.
In a May 24, 2019, email, the library director described receiving the request about a week earlier. Omar’s staff said the listed year was wrong and asked for it to be changed to 1982. The director also wrote that staff were working with Wikipedia and the U.S. House’s biographical directory.
The birth year has drawn scrutiny because Omar has said she became a U.S. citizen through her father’s naturalization in 2000, while she was a minor.
“I became a citizen actually before I turned 18,” Omar said in a 2018 interview cited by the Post.
Under the dates in question, someone born in October 1981 would have turned 18 in 1999, while someone born in October 1982 would turn 18 in 2000. That difference has prompted questions about Omar’s age when her father naturalized.
The library director said the original 1981 entry had come from widely available sources and was not backed by supporting documentation. The emails establish that Omar’s staff requested a correction, but they do not establish that the revised date was false or that Omar used a false birthdate on immigration paperwork or other legal documents.
Those questions are relevant to a federal investigation into Omar’s family immigration history. Homeland Security Investigations agents searched her Washington, D.C., home Monday under a judge-authorized warrant. Investigators have also reportedly subpoenaed her sister and at least one other person in her family circle.
The Justice Department has described the search as part of an ongoing criminal investigation but has not publicly detailed its evidence. The government has not said whether the 2019 library correction led to the search or the subpoenas. Omar and her representatives have denied immigration-fraud allegations.
After the search, Omar accused President Donald Trump of using federal law enforcement to target her, calling the action political intimidation and saying she would not be silenced.
Former political opponent AJ Kern has urged investigators to examine Omar’s birthdate and her father’s naturalization records. Kern unsuccessfully challenged Omar in a Democratic primary and has filed complaints concerning her account of obtaining citizenship. Her claims remain allegations; the library emails do not establish that Omar was ineligible for citizenship.
The key evidence would be the original documents used in the citizenship process and records showing when Omar’s father naturalized. A state biography compiled from public sources cannot, by itself, settle those questions.