Newly surfaced correspondence reveals that staff for Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN) initiated a change to her listed birth year in public records in May 2019, several months after she assumed her seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. The adjustment shifted her birth year from 1981 to 1982, a detail that has drawn scrutiny due to its potential implications for her U.S. citizenship timeline.
"I became a citizen actually before I turned 18. My father became a citizen and so I got my citizenship through that process." Ilhan Omar, 2018
For years prior to the 2019 request, Minnesota’s Legislative Reference Library and various other public references, including Wikipedia and the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, consistently listed Representative Omar’s birth date as October 4, 1981. These records remained unchanged throughout her tenure in the Minnesota House and during her initial months in Congress.
According to an email dated May 24, 2019, library officials confirmed that Omar’s congressional staff contacted them on May 17, 2019, requesting the birth year be updated to 1982. The library director noted that Omar’s staff was also reaching out to other public reference sites to implement the same correction. The director's email further explained that the initial 1981 date had been entered because it was widely available from various sources and had not been substantiated by documentation provided directly by Representative Omar.
The timing of this change has attracted attention, as it came shortly after a political opponent circulated a video raising questions about Representative Omar’s stated age. Representative Omar has consistently maintained that she became a U.S. citizen before turning 18 through her father’s naturalization process. In a 2018 statement, she affirmed, "I became a citizen actually before I turned 18. My father became a citizen and so I got my citizenship through that process."
The discrepancy between a 1981 and 1982 birth year is significant in the context of derivative citizenship requirements. Under the rules in effect at the time, an individual could automatically receive citizenship through a naturalized parent if they were under the age of 18. If Representative Omar was born in 1982, she would have been 17 years old in 2000, aligning with her account of becoming a citizen before reaching 18. However, if her birth year was 1981, critics contend she would have been 18 or 19 in 2000, potentially placing her outside the age window for derivative citizenship. These claims remain disputed and have not been substantiated in court.
Among those who have pressed this issue is former political challenger AJ Kern. Kern has publicly questioned the accuracy of Representative Omar’s citizenship timeline and previously filed a Federal Election Commission (FEC) complaint seeking documentation of Omar’s citizenship. That complaint was subsequently dismissed.
The renewed focus on Representative Omar’s records follows a recent development involving federal authorities. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents reportedly searched Representative Omar’s Washington, D.C.-area home under a warrant authorized by a federal judge. Witnesses observed agents removing boxes from the residence. Federal authorities have characterized the search as part of an ongoing criminal investigation. This probe reportedly involves potential false statements and immigration-related fraud connected to paperwork completed when Representative Omar was a child. Investigators are reportedly examining records pertaining to naturalization and derivative citizenship.
As of the current reporting, no criminal charges have been announced against Representative Omar. She has consistently denied any wrongdoing and has publicly described the scrutiny of her immigration history as politically motivated. Her office did not provide a response to inquiries regarding the older public records at the time the initial report was published.
The newly disclosed 2019 correspondence, while revealing active efforts by her congressional staff to modify public records, does not independently establish that Representative Omar intentionally misrepresented her age or citizenship status. However, it does highlight the proactive steps taken by her office to correct her birth year in government and public reference materials after her election to Congress, amidst ongoing questions regarding her citizenship timeline. The federal investigation continues to unfold, with its scope encompassing various aspects of her early immigration documentation.
