President Donald Trump has renewed attention on long-running allegations involving Rep. Ilhan Omar’s immigration history after sharing a report that said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement withheld records related to the matter.
The report, published Aug. 12 by Just the News and later referenced by Trump, said the outlet sought records through a Freedom of Information Act request tied to any ICE investigation into alleged immigration fraud by Omar, a Minnesota Democrat.
According to the report, ICE declined to release responsive records in full, citing FOIA Exemption 7(A), which applies to law-enforcement records when disclosure could reasonably be expected to interfere with enforcement proceedings.
What ICE Said
Just the News reported that ICE wrote in May that the requested information was being withheld because disclosure “could reasonably be expected to interfere with enforcement proceedings.”
The Department of Justice guidance cited in the source says Exemption 7(A) involves a two-step analysis: there must be a reasonable likelihood of a pending or contemplated law-enforcement proceeding, and releasing the information must be expected to cause articulable harm to that proceeding.
Asked for comment, ICE and the White House referred Blaze News to the Department of Homeland Security, according to the source. DHS said it does not comment on “specific investigative techniques, ongoing investigations, or potential future actions,” adding, “No one, including members of Congress, [is] above the law.”
The Justice Department told Blaze News it does not comment on “the existence of investigations or lack thereof.”
The Allegations Omar Has Denied
The allegations center on Omar’s past marriages and claims that Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, whom she legally married in 2009 and divorced in 2017, was her biological brother. Omar has rejected that claim.
In a 2016 statement cited in the source, Omar called the marriage-related allegations “absolutely false and ridiculous” and said “insinuations that Ahmed Nur Said Elmi is my brother are absurd and offensive.”
The source also notes that no concrete proof, including DNA evidence, has been presented to verify the claim that Elmi was Omar’s biological brother.
Separately, the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board revealed in 2019 that Omar and Ahmed Hirsi filed joint tax returns in 2014 and 2015 while Omar was still legally married to Elmi, according to the source. The Hill reported at the time that filing a joint tax return without a legal marriage violates federal and state law.
Trump and Administration Officials Have Kept the Issue Alive
The source states that border czar Tom Homan said in December that the Trump administration was investigating Omar for alleged immigration fraud. Trump later said the Justice Department was “looking at” Omar, and Vice President JD Vance said in May that “it certainly seems like something fishy is there” while also saying the Justice Department was looking at the matter.
Trump has repeatedly criticized Omar, including questioning her legal status and saying she “should go back,” according to the source.
Omar is seeking to keep her seat in Congress and is scheduled to face Republican challenger John Nagel in November. The source describes Nagel as a former state trooper who served for three decades.
