For years, Omar dismissed claims she married her brother to help him bypass immigration laws. But a newly reported court filing identifies Omar as “Ilhan Nur Said Elmi,” a name shared with her former husband.
U.S. prosecutors released documents showing that Minnesota congresswoman Ilhan Omar’s former name matched that of her former husband, reigniting controversy over marrying her brother Ahmed Elmi to help him obtain U.S. immigration status.
Juno News co-founder Keean Bexte previously questioned Omar about the rumours in 2019 — seven years before the documents were made public.
The Minnesota congresswoman, who arrived in the US as a refugee from Somalia in 1995 and married Elmi in 2009, has vehemently denied allegations that she married Elmi for immigration purposes.
The documents were obtained and published by the New York Post, including a marriage certificate for Leila Nur Said, a Somali woman who is believed to be Omar’s sister. The father is listed as Nur Said Elmi, a name that Omar’s father went by.
A federal search warrant on Omar’s home was executed on October 12 amid an investigation involving the Omar family’s immigration paperwork.
A motion filed by the U.S. District Attorney in the District of Columbia seeking to prevent the search warrant identified her as “Ilhan Nur Said Elmi, a/k/a Ilhan Abdullahi Omar.”
