Date of birth and nationality of her father... the focus of the investigation with Ilhan Omar

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US Representative Ilhan Omar from Minnesota faced a new political crisis, after federal agents searched the representative’s home in Washington, as part of an investigation focusing on suspicions related to the immigration papers she submitted decades ago, amid questions about the timing of the move weeks before the midterm congressional elections.

The investigation is examining whether Omar or her late father provided incorrect information regarding her date of birth or military background, which allowed her to obtain American citizenship through her father’s naturalization, in a case that could lead to accusations of fraud or an attempt to strip her of her citizenship if the authorities prove that violations occurred, according to what was reported by the Washington Post.

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations began a new review of Omar's immigration record earlier this year, after years of similar accusations circulating in conservative media. A former immigration official told the American newspaper that the Department of Homeland Security had previously refrained from moving forward with an investigation based on similar allegations.

Investigators are particularly focusing on whether Omar or her father, Noor Omar Mohamed, intentionally provided an incorrect date of birth, making her eligible for citizenship through her father's naturalization in 2000, when she was still a minor. They are also reviewing whether her father concealed information related to his previous military service while seeking legal status in the United States.

Omar's father died in 2020, while some of her family members received summons to appear before a grand jury in connection with the investigation in recent days, according to informed people who spoke to the newspaper on condition of anonymity.

The Democratic representative rejected the accusations against her, and described them in a statement, issued Monday, as “baseless lies and smear campaigns,” considering that the investigation represents a new attempt by the administration of President Donald Trump to target its political opponents and use law enforcement agencies against them.

Omar, a Democrat who was born in Somalia, is one of the most prominent voices critical of Trump in the House of Representatives. She arrived in the United States in 1995, after fleeing the civil war in Somalia with her family, and spending four years in a refugee camp in Kenya, according to what the newspaper reported.

Trump also escalated his criticism of Omar on Tuesday, demanding answers regarding the case, after US Attorney General Jeanine Pirro announced the opening of a separate investigation into the representative’s financial disclosures. The Department of Justice did not respond to The Washington Post's requests for comment, while the Department of Homeland Security and the White House referred inquiries to it.

The accusations related to Omar’s date of birth go back years, after a video clip spread on social media in 2019 claiming that she was eighteen years old at the time of her father’s naturalization, which, according to the allegations, would have prevented her from obtaining citizenship through him as a minor.

Following the spread of the clip, the Minnesota Legislative Reference Library amended the year of birth of Omar recorded in it from 1981 to 1982. The library told the newspaper that the representative’s office requested the amendment, explaining at the time that it was working to correct her year of birth in various public sources.

Omar's office also requested that the year of birth be amended on the Wikipedia encyclopedia and the website of the US House of Representatives, according to the library. Omar described these steps as correcting inaccurate information, and not an attempt to hide the truth of her date of birth.

On the other hand, immigration experts pointed out that difficulties in documenting births are not uncommon among refugees, especially in some African countries. According to a Somali government report prepared in cooperation with the United Nations in 2020, only 6% of births in Somalia were registered with the government.

In parallel with the immigration file, Peru is investigating the financial declarations that Omar submitted last year, after they showed that she and her husband own assets worth between $6 million and $30 million, a significant increase compared to her previous declarations.

Omar later amended the declaration to declare assets ranging between $18,000 and $95,000, and attributed the difference to an accounting error. Last month, a supervisory body affiliated with the House of Representatives recommended not to draw conclusions about violations against the representative in this file.

The separate investigations raise questions about their timing, especially after Perot publicly announced that her office was reviewing Omar's financial disclosures. The Washington Post reported that announcing the investigation at this stage seems to conflict with the traditional practice of the Ministry of Justice, which has traditionally avoided statements related to investigations targeting candidates in the period preceding the elections.

The Justice Department may choose to file charges of conspiracy, immigration fraud, or making false statements, which are among the list of possible violations in the warrant to search Omar's home, according to a source familiar with the document cited by the Washington Post.

If the Ministry believes that it has evidence proving that Omar obtained citizenship illegally, it may seek to strip it through a criminal or civil process. Criminal deprivation of citizenship cases are subject to a statute of limitations of ten years, while similar civil cases are not subject to a statute of limitations.

It is noteworthy that citizenship deprivation issues have become a priority for the Department of Justice during the Trump era. The ministry has filed at least 163 cases since he assumed the presidency in January 2025, including 40 cases since August, according to federal officials quoted by the newspaper.

However, such cases have historically remained rare, with an average of approximately 11 cases per year between 1990 and 2017, according to an analysis by the Migration Policy Institute. It also rarely extended to acts dating back decades, except in cases linked to serious transnational crimes, such as war crimes and genocide.

While the authorities have not yet announced charges against Omar, the investigation remains a sensitive legal and political test, in light of the approaching elections and the continuing controversy over the limits of the use of law enforcement powers in cases affecting prominent political figures.