Federal investigation probes Ilhan Omar's immigration paperwork and alleged alias
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U.S. authorities are examining whether Congresswoman Ilhan Omar used an alias on immigration documents, after a raid on her Washington, D.C. home and a motion to keep related materials sealed.
Federal investigators are reviewing the immigration records of Rep. Ilhan Omar after a pre-dawn raid on her Washington, D.C., residence seized her phone, passport and DNA samples. Two sources familiar with the probe say the congresswoman’s legal name may be Ilhan Nur Said Elma, rather than the name she uses publicly. A former Minnesota federal immigration judge warned that if the alias is confirmed, many documents filed over her lifetime could be subject to scrutiny, potentially exposing her to charges such as wire fraud.
U.S. District Attorney Jeanine Pirro filed a motion to keep the search-warrant materials sealed, arguing that the government has not completed its investigation. The motion references the congresswoman as “Ilhan Nur Said Elma, a/k/a Ilhan Abdullahi Omar.”
Omar, who was born in Mogadishu, Somalia, in 1982 and arrived in the United States as a refugee in 1995, has denied allegations of fraud and said she does not possess a birth certificate. She has not been charged, and prosecutors have presented only allegations.
"This raid by Trump’s DHS is an outrageous abuse of power and an unprecedented escalation in the weaponization of federal law enforcement to target political enemies," Omar said in a statement posted on X.
The investigation also includes questioning of Omar’s sister, Sahra Noor, and examines her past marriage to Ahmed Nur Said Elma, which has been cited in prior claims of immigration fraud. Omar’s attorneys have not responded to requests for comment.