Somali Community Leader: Yes, Ilhan Omar Married Her Brother To Keep Him in US

A new report adds weight to allegations that Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota married her own brother.

The report in the U.K. Daily Mail quoted a man named Abdihakim Osman as saying that Omar had been desperate to find a way to keep her brother Ahmed Elmi in the country.

“No one knew there had been a wedding until the media turned up the marriage certificate years later,” Osman, 40, who keeps tabs on the Somali community around Minneapolis through a Facebook blog, said. Omar has called criticism of her marriage “Islamophobia.”

Omar married Ahmed Hirsi in 2002 in a Muslim ceremony which was not registered by the state as a legal marriage. Marriage documents show Elmi and Omar married in 2009.

Osman said that not long after Omar married Hirsi, the man he was told was Omar’s brother entered the picture.

Hegseth shoots down Iran ‘kamikaze dolphins’ — leaves US question open

Rubio’s Trump admin juggling act grows as meme-worthy role list becomes reality

Priceless: Swalwell Joined Snapchat to Restore ‘Faith’ in ‘Democracy,’ Then Used It to Send Utterly Depraved Videos, Photos to Women – Accusations

Fed-up Justice Alito Just Leveled 5 Humiliating Insults at Justice Jackson in Withering Majority Opinion – Here’s the List

Alito rips Jackson’s ‘utterly irresponsible’ solo dissent as Supreme Court fight shakes up 2026 map

California gubernatorial hopefuls contend with back-to-back debates with finish line in sight

Climate seminars for judges face funding trail probe amid fears of outside influence on courts

Caine likens ‘kamikaze dolphin’ question to ‘sharks with laser beams’ in nod to Austin Powers movies

Florida shooting spree kills 4-month-old baby, toddler, their mother and grandmother across two scenes

Nancy Mace Names 6 Lawmakers in Bombshell Comments on Congressional Sex Scandal ‘Slush Fund’

Under-the-radar race will decide Michigan Senate control in Whitmer’s final year

Dem Chicago Alderman Wants Walgreens Charged with Crime After Store Closes Amid Rampant Theft, Violence

Oklahoma park shooting that injured nearly two dozen started over argument at unsanctioned party, police say

Trump turns Obama-era youth health policy on its head as school fitness benchmark returns

Massie ally sparks backlash after accusing Trump-backed challenger of abusing VA benefits

“People began noticing that Ilhan and Southside were often with a very effeminate young guy,” Osman said. “Southside” was a nickname Osman used for Hirsi. “He was very feminine in the way he dressed — he would wear light lipstick and pink clothes and very, very, short shorts in the summer. People started whispering about him.”

He said there was no secrecy then about the young man’s identity.

“[Hirsi] and Ilhan both told me it was Ilhan’s brother and he had been living in London but he was mixing with what were seen as bad influences that the family did not like,” Osman said.

“So they sent him to Minneapolis as ‘rehab.’”

Osman said the wedding to Elmi was deliberately kept quiet, unlike her first marriage.

“When [Hirsi] and Ilhan got married, a lot of people were invited. It was a big Islamic wedding uniting two large clans in the Minneapolis community. I would say there were 100-150 people there,” he said.

But, “When she married Elmi, no one even knew about it,” he said, adding that he suspected someone outside the Somali community was needed for the marriage because community members would know they were siblings.