Pressure is mounting on Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) after Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (R) publicly warned that she could face jail time and deportation if long-running allegations about her marriage history are proven true.
Cruz weighed in this week after sharing an article detailing claims that Omar married her brother in a bid to secure U.S. citizenship.
The Texas Republican said that if the allegations are accurate, Omar would face criminal exposure under multiple federal and state statutes.
“If this is true, then Omar faces criminal liability under three different statutes,” Cruz wrote on X.
Cruz cited federal marriage fraud laws, state incest statutes, and tax fraud provisions as potential areas of exposure.
Federal law prohibits knowingly entering into a marriage to evade immigration rules. Minnesota law classifies incest as a felony, punishable by up to ten years in prison.
Tax fraud statutes prohibit couples who are not legally married from filing joint federal returns and can carry fines up to $100,000.
The allegations themselves are not new. Claims that Omar married her brother, Ahmed Elmi, have circulated for years but resurfaced after President Donald Trump referenced the theory during a recent rally in Pennsylvania.
Speaking about Omar, Trump told the crowd, “We oughta get her the hell out.”
Trump went further, arguing that if the allegations were true, Omar would be in the country illegally. “She married her brother to get in,” Trump said. “Therefore, she’s here illegally. She should get the hell out.”
The Daily Mail previously reported on the allegations in 2020, citing Somali community leader Abdihakim Osman, who claimed Omar quietly married Elmi so he could remain in the U.S.
Osman said the marriage was largely unknown within the community until years later, when documentation surfaced.
Omar’s marriage history has long been scrutinized. She married her first husband, Ahmed Hirsi, in a Muslim faith ceremony in 2002. The couple had three children before separating. Omar later married Ahmed Elmi in a civil ceremony, but they separated in 2011, as the Daily Mail reported.
She reunited with Hirsi in 2012 and legally divorced Elmi in 2017. Omar and Hirsi remarried in 2018 before divorcing again in 2019.
Omar is currently married to Tim Mynett, her former chief fundraiser, whom she wed in 2020 after Mynett finalized his divorce.
Despite the attention, no official documentation has confirmed that Elmi is Omar’s brother. Omar has repeatedly denied the claims, calling them “disgusting lies.” She dismissed the allegations in a 2018 interview with the Associated Press and has continued to reject them publicly.
The controversy has intensified amid Trump’s renewed attacks on Omar and the Somali community. In recent weeks, the president has made repeated inflammatory remarks, accusing Somali immigrants of contributing to crime and targeting Omar personally.
Earlier this month, Omar responded on X, writing, “His obsession with me is creepy. I hope he gets the help he desperately needs.”
No charges have been filed against Omar, and no investigation has been publicly announced. Still, Cruz’s warning has reignited the controversy and placed renewed scrutiny on one of the most polarizing figures in Congress.
