Trump Admin Investigating Omar For Allegedly Marrying Brother to Illegally Enter US
The Trump administration is reopening scrutiny of Rep. Ilhan Omar, as federal officials review longstanding allegations tied to her past marriage and immigration history—claims she has repeatedly denied.
Border czar Tom Homan confirmed that the Department of Homeland Security is examining whether Omar may have violated immigration laws, including accusations that her 2009 marriage to Ahmed Elmi was arranged to secure legal immigration benefits. The marriage ended in divorce in 2017.
“We’re pulling the records, we’re pulling the files,” Homan said in an interview with Newsmax. “We’re looking at it … I’m running that down this week.”
President Donald J. Trump and several allies have long alleged that Elmi is Omar’s brother—an accusation that, if proven, could constitute immigration fraud. However, no DNA evidence or official documentation has substantiated the claim, and Omar has dismissed it as “baseless and absurd.”
Homan indicated the review could expand beyond Omar herself, pointing to broader concerns about visa fraud within Minnesota’s Somali community. He cited internal claims suggesting a significant percentage of visas issued in the region may be fraudulent.
“President Trump has instructed us to go down, and we’re going to deep dive all of this, and we’re going to hold people accountable,” Homan said.
Omar’s official biography states she arrived in the United States in the 1990s after fleeing civil war in Somalia. Still, questions about her personal timeline have persisted for years.
A 2019 investigation by the Minneapolis Star-Tribune highlighted inconsistencies in her marital history. According to public records and reporting from the Daily Mail, Omar married Elmi in a civil ceremony while still religiously married to her first husband, Ahmed Abdisalan Hirsi. Though she claimed to have separated from Elmi in 2011, the divorce was not finalized until 2017. During that period, she and Hirsi had another child together.
Additional controversy arose in 2020 when testimony reported by the Daily Mail cited a Minneapolis community leader alleging Omar privately stated Elmi was her brother and that she “needed to get papers for him to stay in the United States.” These claims remain unproven and strongly disputed by Omar.
The renewed attention comes as Omar also faces scrutiny over her financial disclosures. An amended filing reviewed by The Wall Street Journal showed a dramatic revision in reported assets, lowering estimates from millions to between $18,004 and $95,000.
Her office said the discrepancy was corrected promptly. The updated filing indicates Omar earned between $102,503 and $1,005,200 in 2024 from jointly held assets, including income tied to her husband’s business ventures.
Republicans, however, say the revised filing raises further concerns. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer criticized the changes, stating, “Ilhan Omar is even more clueless than I thought if she thinks this financial disclosure revision clears her of suspicion.”
“She can backtrack, obfuscate, and distract all she wants but she’s made clear who she is: A fraud-enabling, racist antisemite who espouses anti-American rhetoric every chance she gets,” Emmer added.
He further argued that if any wrongdoing is proven, Omar is “entirely unfit to be a member of Congress” and “should be held accountable to the fullest extent,” backing potential investigations by the House Ethics Committee.
While the DHS review is still in its early stages, the situation once again places Omar at the center of a high-stakes political and legal battle—one that touches on immigration enforcement, public accountability, and trust in elected officials.