White House border czar Tom Homan confirmed that federal authorities are conducting a criminal investigation involving Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), bringing renewed scrutiny to longstanding allegations concerning the Minnesota Democrat’s immigration history.
Homan discussed the investigation Sunday during an appearance on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures,” though he declined to disclose its scope or identify the agencies leading it.
“Look, I can’t talk about an ongoing criminal investigation, but I will say this: I know things are going on,” Homan said, according to the New York Post.
The border czar was responding to questions about allegations that Omar married Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, whom critics have alleged is her biological brother, to help him obtain immigration benefits.
The claim has circulated for years but has never been established in court. Omar has repeatedly denied that Elmi is her brother and previously dismissed the allegations as politically motivated “lies.”
Homan’s remarks followed comments from Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, who said federal investigators were examining Omar’s immigration history and other questions surrounding her family’s migration.
“We know that she married her brother to try to bring him into the U.S.,” Mullin said during an appearance at the 2026 Republican Midterm Convention in Dallas.
Mullin also suggested that investigators were looking beyond the marriage allegation.
“There may be more to this — the whole family migration and possibly some illegal activity for them to come to the U.S. to begin with,” he said. “But all of this, we’re investigating.”
The secretary stressed that authorities would need evidence before initiating enforcement or criminal proceedings against the congresswoman.
“If we actually move a case forward, it’s not a political case,” Mullin said. “It’s actually a case because they did things wrong.”
Omar legally married Elmi, a British-Somali citizen, in 2009. She reportedly obtained a religious divorce in 2011, while their legal divorce was not finalized until 2017.
During that period, Omar had reunited with Ahmed Hirsi, with whom she had children and later legally married. Minnesota campaign-finance officials found in 2019 that Omar and Hirsi filed joint tax returns in 2014 and 2015 while she remained legally married to Elmi.
No publicly disclosed evidence has established that Omar and Elmi are siblings. In 2020, Omar called the allegation “absolutely false and ridiculous.”
“Insinuations that Ahmed Nur Said Elmi is my brother are absurd and offensive,” she said.
Vice President JD Vance previously said the Justice Department was reviewing allegations against Omar and considering whether sufficient evidence existed to pursue a case.
“It certainly seems like something fishy is there, but everybody’s entitled to equal justice under the laws, so we’re going to investigate it,” Vance said in May. “If we think that there’s a crime, we’re going to prosecute that crime.”
Questions about possible federal activity intensified when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement declined to release records requested under the Freedom of Information Act.
ICE invoked an exemption protecting law-enforcement material whose disclosure “could reasonably be expected to interfere with enforcement proceedings.” The agency did not identify Omar or explain what those proceedings involved.
President Donald Trump later shared a report concerning ICE’s response and renewed his criticism of Omar, one of his most prominent congressional opponents.
Omar was born in Somalia and arrived in the U.S. as a refugee before becoming a naturalized citizen in 2000. She was elected to Congress in 2018.
No charges have been announced, and neither Homan nor Mullin presented new public evidence supporting the marriage allegation. Omar’s office had not issued a response to Homan’s latest comments as of Sunday.
