WASHINGTON — Federal investigators are examining Rep. Ilhan Omar’s 2009 marriage as part of a broader inquiry into her family’s immigration history, according to a New York Times report published Thursday, October 29. Omar’s office rejected the allegations and described the investigation as politically motivated. The Times reported that investigators are revisiting whether Omar’s marriage to Ahmed Nur Said Elmi was arranged to obtain immigration benefits. The report also described investigators’ suspicion that the two may be siblings, an allegation Omar has repeatedly denied. The underlying evidence supporting the alleged family relationship was not detailed publicly in the report. The Times said it remained unclear what evidence prosecutors have on that question or whether they could pursue marriage-related charges despite the passage of time. A reported investigation in 2016 According to the Times, FBI and Department of Homeland Security agents examined the marriage in summer 2016, when Omar was running for the Minnesota Legislature. Current and former officials told the newspaper that investigators found information they believed indicated fraud. The report said the earlier inquiry stalled chiefly because prosecutors concluded the alleged conduct fell outside a five-year statute of limitations. That account is attributed to the newspaper’s sources; it is not a newly announced court finding. The Times based its account on interviews with three current and former officials familiar with the present investigation and six with knowledge of the 2016 inquiry. The newspaper also reported, citing two former officials, that Elmi obtained a provisional green card through the marriage but left the United States rather than provide additional evidence sought during an application for permanent status. Omar’s denial and the 2016 letter Omar spokesperson Jackie Rogers told the Times that the congresswoman has repeatedly denied the allegation and considers it a political smear. The newspaper reported that Elmi did not respond to its requests for comment. The FBI and the U.S. attorney’s office in Minnesota declined comment, while DHS did not respond to the newspaper’s inquiry. The report revisited an August 2016 letter from then-U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger saying his office was not investigating Omar and had not requested an investigation. Omar’s campaign cited the letter when rejecting the allegations at the time. Luger told the Times that the letter addressed a specific news report about his office’s involvement and was not intended to resolve the substance of the accusations. He said federal agents could have examined the matter without his knowledge. The wider inquiry Federal agents searched Omar’s Washington home on October 12. The Times described the marriage inquiry as one part of a broader investigation that also concerns immigration information submitted by her late father and questions about her eligibility for citizenship through him. In a separate October 27 public filing, Justice Department lawyers asked a federal judge to keep search-warrant records sealed, saying the warrant had been only partly executed and no charging decision had been publicly announced. That filing concerns access to records; it does not establish that Omar committed marriage fraud. Omar married Elmi in 2009 and divorced him in 2017. Earlier scrutiny of her marital history also involved joint tax returns filed with Ahmed Hirsi in 2014 and 2015, before their legal marriage, as documented in a 2019 Minnesota campaign-finance inquiry. Her campaign said her tax filings were compliant with applicable law. The newly reported investigative claims remain disputed. The Times said the possible path to charges was unclear. Neither an investigation nor political statements about possible deportation establish a legal outcome. Photo: Ilhan Omar’s official portrait for the 116th Congress. Kristie Boyd / U.S. House Office of Photography; public domain.