‘It’s not a political case’: DHS Sec. Mullin warns Rep. Ilhan Omar could be deported, citing claims of incestuous marriage and other illegal activity

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin has officially asserted that federal authorities are currently investigating allegations about Representative Ilhan Omar’s past marriage. During a discussion at the GOP midterm convention in Dallas on Thursday, Mullin stated that the investigation involves claims that the congresswoman married her brother as part of a fraudulent immigration scheme.

According to the New York Post, Mullin told podcaster Benny Johnson about the ongoing federal inquiry into the Minnesota congresswoman. During the interview, the DHS chief confidently stated, “We know that she married her brother to try to bring him to the United States.” He also noted that the individual in question, Omar’s ex-husband, currently lives in London.

This allegation has been circulating in political circles for years. Per Newsweek, Mullin suggested that the investigation is also looking into broader questions, including potential illegal activity related to how the family originally came to the United States. “There may be more to this, the whole family migration and possibly some illegal activity for them to come to the United States to begin with,” he told Johnson. The result, he noted, could be deportation. 

An allegation stated as fact

The New York Post reported that Mullin was adamant that this investigation isn’t politically driven. “Here’s what I want to make sure we do: if we actually move a case forward, it’s not a political case, it’s an actual case, because they did things wrong,” he said. 

“If you lied about certain things about your application. There’s no expiration to that. If we can prove it – that you shouldn’t have been here in the first place – we’ll deport you,” Mullin added. It should be noted that President Trump has called for Omar to be “thrown out of the country” in the past. 

For her part, Representative Omar has consistently and vehemently denied these claims. “Insinuations that Ahmed Nur Said Elmi is my brother are absurd and offensive,” Omar reportedly told MPR News in 2016. More recently, her chief of staff, Connor McNutt, called the resurfacing claims a “ridiculous lie and desperate attempt to distract from the pedophile protection party’s unpopular war of choice, increasing gas prices, and rapidly dropping polling numbers.”

Per the outlet, a major focus of the reports that make the allegations is the timeline of the marriage in question. Omar legally married Ahmed Nur Said Elmi in February 2009, and the couple later divorced in 2017. She then married Ahmed Abdisalan Hirsi in January 2018. 

The NY Post noted that Omar described her relationship with Elmi as brief. She also stated that they were separated for much of the time they were legally wed. The primary ‘proof’ cited was a now-deleted Instagram post of Elmi holding a baby he called his niece at the same time Omar’s youngest daughter was born. 

Additionally, the NY outlet pointed to statements made by a Minneapolis-based blogger who claimed she had introduced Elmi as her brother in the late 2000s. Despite these claims, no federal agency has publicly released findings that substantiate the claims of marriage fraud.  

President Trump and Vice President JD Vance have since repeated this allegation and their belief that the congresswoman committed immigration fraud. In March, Vance reportedly told Benny Johnson, “We actually think that Ilhan Omar definitely committed immigration fraud against the United States of America.” Furthermore, in May, Trump told a crowd that he believes Omar “married her brother, which is totally illegal.”

The outlet noted that marriage fraud is a serious federal crime that carries potential penalties of up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Despite the intensity of these claims, no court has ruled that Omar committed such an act. Additionally, various media outlets, including the Star Tribune and the New York Times, have examined the records over the years, but haven’t produced evidence demonstrating that Elmi was her sibling.

As it stands, the Department of Homeland Security is maintaining a standard policy regarding the inquiry. A spokesperson for the agency told Newsweek, “As a matter of policy, DHS does not comment on specific investigative techniques, ongoing investigations, or potential future actions,” while also noting that “No one, including members of Congress, are above the law.”