A one-page memo from a 2019 review of Rep. Ilhan Omar’s immigration records found no problems with questions investigators are revisiting now, according to The Washington Post, casting doubt on the current probe.
Three former immigration officials told The Post that in 2019 a political appointee urged immigration authorities to comb Omar’s records for fraud, an unusual request from the standpoint of career staff. A review examined her background, her family’s refugee past and long-circulated claims about her marriage. Homeland Security Investigations decided the evidence was too thin, and a full investigation was abandoned.
The officer who vetted Omar summarized the results in a one-page memo for a senior USCIS official and a fraud detection official, one former official said. Given its sensitivity, it was delivered in hard copy, not by email.
The inquiry resurfaced publicly Monday, when federal agents searched Omar’s Washington home. Investigators are now looking at whether she or her father lied on immigration paperwork about her birthdate and his military service in Somalia. Three former officials said both topics were reviewed in 2019. One said her age couldn’t be pinned down because refugees often arrive from places with few birth records, and that her father’s file raised no issues.
“I think her citizenship is solid and there wasn’t any fraud there,” a former official said.
Omar’s spokesperson called the probe “politically motivated.” The Justice Department doesn’t comment on investigations. Trump said it’s up to the DOJ and that he has “nothing to do with it.”
The administration is also considering revoking her citizenship certificate, an administrative step, if no criminal charges result, a senior official said. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro has separately opened an investigation into her personal finances.