Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said Thursday that federal investigators are actively examining long-running allegations involving Rep. Ilhan Omar’s immigration history and warned that legal consequences could follow if authorities uncover wrongdoing.
Mullin made the remarks during an appearance with conservative commentator Benny Johnson at the 2026 Republican Midterm Convention.
Johnson asked Mullin what could happen as federal authorities review allegations that Omar married Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, a man critics have long claimed is her biological brother, in an effort to help him remain in the United States.
“Something’s going to happen,” Mullin said.
Mullin then went further, asserting that investigators believe the marriage was part of an immigration scheme.
“We know that she married her brother to try to bring him into the United States,” he began.
The allegation has circulated for years but has never been publicly proven. Omar has repeatedly denied that Elmi is her brother.
🚨 BREAKING OVERNIGHT: DHS Sec. Markwayne Mullin has confirmed an ONGOING INVESTIGATION into Somali Rep. Ilhan Omar because she married her brother to migrate here
“We know that she married her brother to try to bring him into the United States…possibly some illegal activity.”…
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) September 11, 2026
Mullin said investigators are examining more than the marriage allegation and suggested federal authorities are looking into the broader immigration history of Omar’s family.
“There may be more to this — the whole family migration and possibly some illegal activity for them to come to the United States to begin with. But all of this, we’re investigating.”
The DHS chief also insisted that any action taken against Omar would have to be based on evidence rather than politics.
“If we actually move a case forward, it’s not a political case. It’s actually a case because they did things wrong.”
Mullin said immigration fraud allegations can carry consequences years after the conduct allegedly occurred if authorities establish that false information was provided to the federal government.
POLL: Ilhan Omar Now Claims She’s Broke – Do You Believe Her?
“If you decided to break the law or lie on the information you gave the United States … but you didn’t tell us who you actually were … there’s no expiration to that. If we can prove it that you shouldn’t have been here in the first place, we’ll deport you.”
Omar’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Blaze News.
The Minnesota Democrat has previously rejected the brother-marriage allegation in forceful terms.
In 2020, Omar called the claims “absolutely false and ridiculous,” and said “insinuations that Ahmed Nur Said Elmi is my brother are absurd and offensive.”
The issue has received renewed attention in recent months as senior Trump administration officials have publicly discussed possible federal scrutiny of Omar’s immigration history.
Vice President JD Vance said in May that the Justice Department was looking into whether Omar committed immigration fraud.
“You read the things about Ilhan Omar and about who she married and whether she didn’t marry this person or that person,” Vance said.
“It certainly seems like something fishy is there, but everybody’s entitled to equal justice under the laws, so we’re going to investigate it,” he added. “We’re going to take a look at it. If we think that there’s a crime, we’re going to prosecute that crime. And that’s something the Department of Justice is looking at right now.”
President Donald Trump has also repeatedly raised the allegation publicly.
“If that’s true, she shouldn’t be a congressman,” he said definitively. “And we should throw her the hell out of our country.”
Omar, a naturalized U.S. citizen who was born in Somalia, has maintained that the accusations are false and politically motivated.
For now, no criminal charges tied to the marriage allegation have been announced publicly.
But Mullin’s latest comments signal that the Trump administration is continuing to examine the claims and that federal officials have not closed the door on possible enforcement action if investigators believe they can prove a violation.
POLL: Should Ilhan Omar Be Deported If Found Guilty Of Immigration Fraud?
