Rep Ilhan Omar's immigration history faces new scrutiny as federal investigators subpoena relatives
Rep. Ilhan Omar’s, D-Minn., immigration history is facing fresh scrutiny after federal agents searched her Washington, D.C., home, with new reports detailing subpoenas to relatives and a request from her congressional staff to change the birth year listed in public biographies.
Federal investigators have subpoenaed Omar’s sister, Sahra Noor, and at least one other person in her family circle as they examine possible fraud and false statements in immigration paperwork, The New York Times reported Tuesday, citing people familiar with the investigation.
Fox News has also learned that subpoenas have been sent to multiple family members of Omar.
Separately, the New York Post reported that Omar’s staff asked the Minnesota Legislative Reference Library in May 2019 to change her listed birth year from 1981 to 1982, a discrepancy a former political opponent has questioned while challenging the Minnesota Democrat’s account of how she became a U.S. citizen.
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The reports come one day after Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents searched Omar’s Washington, D.C., home.
Two sources familiar with the probe told Fox News Digital the search was part of an ongoing criminal investigation involving her immigration paperwork.
The Justice Department confirmed that agents executed a judicially authorized search warrant as part of an ongoing federal criminal investigation.
Omar has repeatedly denied immigration wrongdoing and accused the Trump administration of using federal law enforcement against her.
"I’m ok. Make no mistake: this is an attempt to target political enemies and weaponize federal law enforcement," Omar, a member of DC's progressive "The Squad," wrote Monday on X.
"For ten years, Trump has targeted me with baseless lies and smear campaigns. This is just the latest escalation in his campaign of political intimidation," she continued. "I will not be silenced."
According to emails reviewed by the Post, Omar’s congressional staff contacted the Minnesota library months after she entered Congress to request the birth-year correction.
"On May 17, 2019, Library staff were informed by Rep. Omar’s congressional staff that her birth year was incorrect and requested that we change it to 1982," the library’s director wrote in a May 24, 2019, email, according to the outlet.
The director also said Omar’s staff were working with Wikipedia, the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress and other sources to correct the year.
But the library’s original entry was not based on a birth certificate or other supporting documentation. In another email cited by the Post, the director said the 1981 date had been drawn from other reference sources and added "without documentation."
The discrepancy does not establish that Omar falsified immigration records, and neither report established that the biography change prompted Monday’s search.
Omar has said she became a citizen through her father’s naturalization in 2000, before she turned 18.
"I became a citizen actually before I turned 18," she told The Intercept in a September 2018 interview, according to the Post. "My father became a citizen and so I got my citizenship through that process."
AJ Kern, who unsuccessfully challenged Omar in the 2022 Democratic primary, has questioned whether Omar was still a minor when her father became a citizen, the Post reported.
Kern told the outlet that she filed a Federal Election Commission complaint and sued to demand proof of Omar’s citizenship. A state judge dismissed the lawsuit for lack of jurisdiction, according to the Post.
The Times reported that investigators have been examining the immigration history of Omar’s family, including whether her late father, Nur Omar Mohamed, lied or omitted information on immigration forms before becoming a citizen.
The precise scope of the investigation remains unclear. Grand jury subpoenas seek evidence and do not, by themselves, mean the recipients are suspected of wrongdoing.
The Times reported that previous federal inquiries into Omar’s immigration history have not resulted in charges.
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The immigration developments also come as U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro disclosed a separate examination of Omar’s financial disclosures.
Speaking Tuesday on Fox News’ "America Reports," Pirro said her office was investigating the filings, which previously showed that the combined reported value of two businesses tied to Omar’s husband, Tim Mynett, climbed from approximately $15,000 to $51,000 in 2023 to between $6 million and $30 million in 2024.
Fox News Digital previously examined the disclosures involving eStCru LLC, a California winery, and Rose Lake Capital LLC, a Washington-based venture capital firm.
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Omar amended the filings in April, reducing the couple’s combined reported assets to between $18,004 and $95,000. Her office said the original disclosures failed to properly account for business liabilities. Financial disclosures list assets in broad ranges and do not establish an exact net worth.
In September, the Office of Congressional Conduct voted 5-1 to recommend that the House Ethics Committee dismiss misconduct allegations related to the disclosures, finding no substantial reason to believe Omar reported false or incomplete information in violation of federal law or House rules.
That review is separate from the federal investigation Pirro described. It remains unclear whether the financial inquiry is connected to Monday’s search.
President Donald Trump renewed his criticism Tuesday in a statement shared by the White House on X, questioning the change in Omar’s financial filings.
"America wants answers, and we want them, NOW!" Trump said.
Vice President JD Vance, who previously accused Omar of immigration fraud, said Tuesday that he had no advance knowledge of the search, according to the Times.
"If there’s a real case there, we’re going to follow the facts," Vance said. "If there’s not a real case there, then we won’t."
Fox News Digital reached out to the Justice Department, Omar’s office and the Minnesota Legislative Reference Library for comment.
Fox News Digital's Amanda Macias contributed to this report.