Staffers for Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) reportedly assisted her in changing her birth date on official records shortly after she began her first term in the U.S. House, according to a New York Post report.
Omar’s year of birth — which was changed in 2019 from 1981 to 1982 — is reportedly relevant to the current investigation into the congresswoman because of her account of when and how she obtained U.S. citizenship.
Omar has long claimed that she became a citizen as a minor — at the age of 17 — when her father became a citizen in 2000: “I became a citizen actually before I turned 18. My father became a citizen and so I got my citizenship through that process.”
Her age at the time matters because eligibility to derive citizenship through a parent depends on meeting the applicable legal requirements before turning 18.
If she was born in 1981, however, she would have been 18 or 19 in 2000, rather than 17, raising questions about that account. She would have been required to go through the naturalization process as a legal adult.
If she was indeed 17 at the time, she could have derived citizenship automatically through her father’s naturalization under the law then in effect, provided she was an unmarried permanent resident under 18 and met the requirements regarding her parents’ status.
Further complicating that process is the fact that a 2023 search for any record or proof of Omar’s father’s naturalization came up empty, The New York Post reported.
AJ Kern, Omar’s opponent in the 2022 Democratic primary, requested the information during the campaign — and was informed a year later that the record search failed to locate proof that he had been naturalized, the Post reported.
According to a separate report published Tuesday by The New York Post, Omar’s birthday was listed by the Minnesota Legislative Reference Library — and had been reported by numerous outlets, including the BBC — as Oct. 4, 1981. That date remained unchanged throughout Omar’s time in the Minnesota House and her first congressional campaign.
The request to change the year followed questions from a political opponent about whether Omar had misrepresented her age, according to the report.
The record was updated in mid-May 2019, according to emails The Post reviewed.
“On May 17, 2019, Library staff were informed by Rep. Omar’s congressional staff that her birth year was incorrect and requested that we change it to 1982,” the director of the Minnesota Legislative Reference Library wrote in an email dated May 24, 2019. “Rep. Omar’s congressional staff are working with Wikipedia and with the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress and other sources to correct her birth year on those sites. As of today, the birth year has not been corrected on the two sites I mentioned.”
Another email exchange said the original 1981 listing came from previously published reports that library staff had no reason to doubt at the time.
Federal agents raided Omar’s home early Monday, searching for records related to immigration documents completed by her late father when she was a child. U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro said during an appearance on Fox News’ “America Reports” that Omar’s financial disclosures were also being reviewed.
Omar responded to the investigation by accusing President Donald Trump of “weaponizing” federal law enforcement.
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