Missing Record For Ilhan Omar’s Father Raises Citizenship Questions
A 2023 federal records search found no naturalization record for Rep. Ilhan Omar’s father, the New York Post reported, bringing fresh attention to the immigration history now under investigation.
Omar has said she became a U.S. citizen in 2000 through her father’s naturalization, before she turned 18. If that account is accurate, records concerning his naturalization could be relevant to establishing how she acquired citizenship.
The records response was obtained by AJ Kern, who challenged Omar in Minnesota’s 2022 Democratic congressional primary. Kern requested the information during that campaign and received the response in September 2023, according to the Post.
The document, titled “Certificate of Nonexistence of Record,” is dated September 6, 2023. It was issued by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, part of the Department of Homeland Security, and signed by Douglas C. Marr, an official at the agency’s National Records Center.
The certificate says USCIS maintains a centralized index of people naturalized on or after September 27, 1906, as well as immigration records covering people who entered the country during specified periods. It states that officials searched the Central Index System and the Microfilm Digitization Application System for records relating to the identified person.
The document names the subject as Nur Omar Mohamed and includes a name variation, Somalia as his country of birth and an approximate birthdate. It says a diligent search of the listed systems found no record relating to him.
That is a documented response to a records search. It does not, by itself, establish that Omar’s citizenship is invalid or that she committed fraud. The key unresolved question is whether other government records support the family’s account of her father’s naturalization and her own citizenship.
Kern told the Post that the missing documentation could explain what investigators were seeking at Omar’s home. That was Kern’s assessment; the reported certificate does not establish the purpose of the search warrant. The Post separately reported that people familiar with the investigation described scrutiny of alleged false statements in immigration paperwork.
In a 2018 interview, Omar described becoming a citizen through her father.
“I became a citizen actually before I turned 18,” she said.
Citizenship through a parent depends on the law that applied at the time and whether the required conditions were met. USCIS distinguishes the rules in effect before February 27, 2001, from the later framework under the Child Citizenship Act. Omar’s stated 2000 citizenship date makes the earlier law relevant, but the records search alone does not settle whether she met its requirements.
Reuters reported that the warrant for the search listed conspiracy, immigration fraud and false statements on immigration paperwork as potential offenses under investigation. Sources told Reuters that investigators were examining documents submitted by Omar or relatives during immigration and citizenship proceedings. Omar denies wrongdoing and has described the investigation as political intimidation.
The current inquiry is not the first federal review of allegations concerning Omar’s immigration history. The Washington Post reported that Homeland Security Investigations examined similar claims in 2019 and found no evidence of wrongdoing before the review was dropped.
Omar’s attorneys have also challenged the search itself. They demanded the return of property seized from her home and alleged that investigators failed to follow instructions imposed by the judge. The Justice Department rejected those allegations, saying its personnel complied with court orders and legal obligations.
The document at the center of the latest report raises a question that investigators may seek to answer. It is not a finding that Omar obtained citizenship unlawfully, and any legal conclusion would require a review of the relevant family, immigration and citizenship records.