Rep. Ilhan Omar’s congressional staff helped change her birth year in public records after the Minnesota Democrat entered Congress, according to emails reviewed by The Post. The revision came after years of references listing her birthdate as Oct. 4, 1981.

The date appeared in the Minnesota Legislative Reference Library, on Wikipedia, in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress and in media reports from outlets including the BBC. Those references remained during Omar’s service in the state House and for several months after she joined Congress.

In May 2019, Omar’s staff sought to move the listed birth year forward to 1982. The request followed a viral video from a political opponent who accused Omar of misrepresenting her age.

“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 Minnesota Legislative Reference Library director wrote days after the revision.

"Ilhan Omar listed her date of birth as 1981 back when she was a young lawmaker, and it has since been revised to 1982."

@jsolomonReports shares that a discrepancy in Ilhan Omar's birth date presents a factual case, not a conspiracy theory. https://t.co/n31F4CoEgG — Just the News (@JustTheNews) October 13, 2026

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The director also said Omar’s congressional staff were contacting other sources about the disputed year. At that point, Wikipedia and the congressional Biographical Directory had not yet made the requested correction.

“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,” the director wrote on May 24, 2019.

In another email, the director explained that the library had used 1981 because the year was already publicly cited. The director said it was “widely available—in Wikipedia and the Biographical Directory–and so we added that birthdate without documentation.”

Representatives for Omar’s office and Omar herself have repeatedly denied accusations that she committed immigration fraud.

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The dispute has attracted fresh attention after federal immigration agents raided Omar’s Washington, DC, home Monday. Critics contend that if Omar were actually one year older than claimed, she could not legally have obtained derivative citizenship in 2000 under the account she has provided.

Omar responded to the investigation in a Monday statement posted on X. “For ten years, Trump has targeted me with baseless lies and smear campaigns. This is just the latest escalation in his campaign of political intimidation,” she said.

I’m ok. Make no mistake: this is an attempt to target political enemies and weaponize federal law enforcement. For ten years, Trump has targeted me with baseless lies and smear campaigns. This is just the latest escalation in his campaign of political intimidation.

I will not be silenced. — Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) October 12, 2026

The Minnesota Democrat has said she obtained derivative citizenship through her father, Nur Omar Mohamed. According to Omar, he became a naturalized citizen in 2000, five years after coming to the United States from war-torn Somalia.

“I became a citizen actually before I turned 18,” Omar told The Intercept in September 2018. “My father became a citizen, and so I got my citizenship through that process.”

It’s been known since at least 2019 that Ilhan Omar was not a legitimate U.S. citizen, therefore not eligible to serve in Congress and that she changed her birthday to cover it up.

People are now just starting to listen. @AJKern8 is totally vindicated. This is from 2019: https://t.co/A9v8sND6b8 — ALX (x/acc) (@alx) October 14, 2026

AJ Kern, who finished a distant fourth against Omar in the 2022 Democratic House primary for Minnesota’s Fifth District, challenged that explanation Tuesday. Kern said Omar’s citizenship account depends on her having been a minor when her father became a citizen.

“For derivative citizenship, two things have to be true — one, her father had to naturalize; and two, she still had to be a minor — and what I have found is that it’s highly likely that neither of those things are true,” Kern claimed.

Kern later filed an FEC complaint seeking proof of citizenship, but the effort went nowhere. Kern said a judge determined it was “the job of Congress to vet their members.”

If Omar supplied a false birthdate on an official form, including a passport renewal or bank loan application, she could face prosecution. Naturalization fraud carries a 10-year statute of limitations.

People familiar with the multi-year federal criminal investigation have suggested that authorities are examining whether Omar made false statements on immigration forms. Asked what Homeland Security Investigations agents could have sought during the raid, Kern suggested “her citizenship papers, her father’s naturalization record.”

President Trump amplified Kern’s claims in a December 2025 Truth Social post. Administration officials have also repeatedly mentioned an investigation into possible immigration fraud involving Omar, while representatives for her office did not immediately respond to another request for comment.

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