Rep. Ilhan Omar has accused former President Donald Trump of harboring a "creepy obsession" with her, likening the federal scrutiny of her immigration status to the "birther" conspiracy theories targeting Barack Obama.
Omar, a Somali-born refugee and one of the most prominent progressive voices in Congress, is currently under investigation by the Justice Department. The inquiry reportedly centers on allegations of immigration fraud, including claims that she may have used a false name or incorrect birthdate on her 2000 naturalization papers. The Justice Department's investigation, initiated in 2016 under the Obama administration, also examined allegations that Omar married her brother to help him obtain a green card, though that probe was reportedly closed due to statute of limitations issues.
"Trump has an unhealthy and creepy obsession with me," Omar told The Nation. "I represent everything Trump and today’s Republican Party seem to despise. I’m a woman, an immigrant, a refugee, a Muslim woman who wears a hijab, and someone who refuses to be intimidated into silence."
Omar suggested that Trump's focus on her background and immigration status is a tactic to distract from Republican failures and is rooted in racism and Islamophobia. She drew a parallel between the inquiries into her own history and Trump's persistent efforts to question Obama's U.S. birthplace.
"President Obama knows the world of right-wing conspiracies better than anyone," Omar stated. "In many ways, the conspiracy world I find myself in was created around him. That is why he can so clearly see the purpose and contradictions of the lies being told about me. He knows that no amount of evidence or facts will ever be enough for these trolls, because they are not after the truth. The conspiracy itself is what drives them."
Records indicate discrepancies in Omar's birth year, with some documents listing Oct. 4, 1981, and others listing the same date in 1982. If the earlier date is accurate, she would have been of legal age when her father was naturalized, potentially impacting the basis of her own citizenship claim.
A court filing from the Justice Department on Oct. 21 referred to Omar as "Congresswoman Ilhan Nur Said Elmi, a/k/a Ilhan Abdullahi Omar," a designation that further highlights the focus on her legal identity and name. Omar maintains she became a U.S. citizen at age 17 when her father, Nur Omar Mohamed, was naturalized.