Federal agents raided the Washington residence of Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar early Monday as part of a criminal investigation into alleged immigration fraud, bringing renewed scrutiny to her controversial marriage history and longstanding allegations that she married her brother to circumvent US immigration laws.
Agents from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the investigative arm of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, conducted the pre-dawn search under a warrant obtained by the Department of Justice.
The operation was confirmed by federal authorities after Fox News first reported the raid, citing sources familiar with the investigation.
According to Fox News and CBS News, investigators are examining immigration documents submitted on Omar’s behalf by her late father when she was a child.
The Justice Department confirmed that the search was part of an ongoing federal criminal investigation but declined to disclose its precise scope, the evidence being sought or whether prosecutors were preparing criminal charges.
The operation marks a significant escalation in federal scrutiny of the Minnesota Democrat, whose immigration background and conflicting marriage records have attracted controversy for years.
Brother-marriage allegations resurface
The investigation has revived explosive allegations that Omar married her own brother, Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, in 2009 as part of an alleged immigration scheme.
The claims, repeatedly raised by Republican politicians and conservative commentators, concern Omar’s legally registered marriage to Elmi, a British citizen whose relationship to the congresswoman has been disputed for nearly a decade.
Omar has denied the allegations, and no publicly available evidence has conclusively established that Elmi is her sibling.
However, an investigation published by the Minnesota Star Tribune in June 2019 uncovered discrepancies in Omar’s marital and financial records, raising questions that the newspaper said remained unresolved.
Public records showed that Omar married Elmi in 2009 but did not legally divorce him until 2017, despite previously stating that the relationship ended in 2011.
During that period, she reconciled with Ahmed Hirsi, the father of her three children.
A Minnesota campaign finance investigation subsequently established that Omar filed joint federal tax returns with Hirsi in 2014 and 2015 while she remained legally married to Elmi.
The filings were later corrected, but the discrepancy added to scrutiny of her marital history.
The Star Tribune examined marriage certificates, divorce filings, university records and other public documents but was unable to conclusively determine whether Elmi was Omar’s brother.
Omar also declined to provide the newspaper with her immigration and tax records during its investigation.
The revelations prompted additional questions about the circumstances of her marriage to Elmi, although the newspaper did not establish that the marriage was fraudulent.
Trump administration intensifies scrutiny
The latest federal operation follows public statements by senior Trump administration officials questioning Omar’s immigration history.
White House border czar Tom Homan confirmed in September that an investigation involving the congresswoman was underway.
Vice President JD Vance and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin have also publicly raised allegations concerning Omar’s immigration history and previous marriage.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticised Omar, who arrived in the United States from Somalia as a child and became an American citizen in 2000.
The congresswoman, first elected to the House of Representatives in 2018, has been among Trump’s most outspoken political opponents.
Monday’s operation represents a shift from longstanding public accusations to direct federal investigative action, with authorities now examining records reportedly connected to her family’s immigration to the United States.
Criminal investigation enters critical phase
The search comes just three weeks before the November 3 congressional midterm elections, as Omar seeks another term representing Minnesota’s Fifth Congressional District.
It remains unclear what evidence federal investigators obtained during the search, whether documents or electronic devices were seized, or whether additional witnesses will be questioned.
No criminal charges against Omar have been publicly announced, and the Justice Department has not confirmed that the brother-marriage allegation forms part of the current investigation.
Nevertheless, the raid places renewed attention on unresolved questions surrounding her immigration paperwork, the accuracy of her family’s declarations to US authorities and the discrepancies identified in her marital and tax records.
