Based on interviews and credible publications, it appears that Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar never obtained U.S. citizenship, and therefore, does not meet the constitutional qualification to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives.
“No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the age of twenty-five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States…”
--U.S. Constitution, Article I, section 2, clause 2 [1]
After 5 years of permanent residency within the U.S. adult refugees may apply for U.S. citizenship status through a process called naturalization. Naturalization includes English proficiency, a U.S. history and civics exam, and swearing an ‘Oath of Allegiance’ to the United States. [2]
There are three paths a foreign-born child may obtain U.S. citizenship through their parents:[3]
· Acquisition of citizenship
· Derivation of citizenship
· Application for citizenship under Section 322 of the Immigration and Naturalization Act
Acquisition of citizenship for Ilhan Omar would not apply because one or both parents must have been U.S. citizens at the time of her birth in Somalia.
Citizenship by derivation requires that foreign-born children who turned 18 years old on or after February 27, 2001, are eligible to gain citizenship through their parents. Ilhan Omar’s widely published birth date of October 4, 1981 means she turned 18 in 1999 and 19 in 2000, and therefore, was ineligible to gain citizenship by derivation.
And finally, Certificate of Citizenship under I.N.A. Section 322 would require Ilhan Omar’s father having already obtained U.S. citizenship before she turned 18 years of age. But given the Omar family arrived in the U.S. in 1995, and adult refugees having a five-year waiting period, means Ilhan’s father could not have applied for naturalization until the year 2000—when Ilhan was an adult. Ilhan Omar could not have gained citizenship through her father under I.N.A. Section 322.
This is where Ilhan Omar’s U.S. citizenship becomes problematic.
Interviews and the public record provide that Congresswoman Ilhan Omar claims to have obtained U.S. citizenship in the year 2000 as a 17-year-old, a minor.
In every instance, where we find Ilhan having been interviewed by reputable news outlets, her age is reported to have been 17 in 2000. For example, in an interview with the New York Times, reported that “she became a citizen in 2000, when she was 17.”[4] Again, the TwinCities Pioneer Press stated that in “2000: At age 17, Omar becomes a U.S. citizen. She has already become interested in local politics, serving as a translator for Somalis at precinct caucuses.”[5]
Ilhan Omar’s Minnesota legislative page has shown her date of birth to be Oct 4, 1981, since her election to the state legislature in 2016.
Ilhan’s Oct 4, 1981, date of birth clearly corroborates that she was not 17 years old in 2000, but rather 18 turning 19. Fully two years beyond what would be allowed for naturalization through her father.
According to a public data request, Ilhan Omar’s congressional staff contacted the Minnesota Legislative Reference Library on May 17th requesting to change the congresswoman’s date of birth from October 4, 1981 to 1982. [6]
Interestingly, the request was made just two days after a video was published on social media pointing out that Ilhan was not 17 years old in 2000.
Oops!
The Minnesota Legislative Reference Library cooperated with Omar’s congressional staff’s request to change her date of birth by making the change without requiring any documentation—no birth certificate and no record of naturalization.
The legislative reference library responded as follows:
“Hello *******,
The Legislative Reference Library’s biographical record for Rep. Ilhan Omar’s term in the Minnesota Legislature has the birth date for Rep. Omar as October 4, 1982. 1982 is her correct birth year.
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. 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.
I contacted her congressional office this morning to verify that we do have the birth year correct. They confirmed that 1982 is the correct year.
Sincerely, Elizabeth Lincoln
Elizabeth Lincoln, Director
Minnesota Legislative Reference Library
645 State Office Building
St. Paul, Minnesota 55155
651-296-0594
https://www.leg.state.mn.us/lrl/lrl
One has to wonder why the Somali born congresswoman never made any effort to correct the public record before May 17th 2019, because this type of discrepancy is not inconsequential.
As of this writing, the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress [7] also provides the Congresswoman’s date of birth to be October 4, 1981. Is the Congressional record a slip up as well?
Bear in mind that voter fraud is an ongoing concern in the state of Minnesota. Without a clearly defined step ensuring that the growing community of refugees are, in fact, gaining U.S. citizenship before participating in elections most certainly negatively impacts voter integrity.
It wouldn’t be a far leap to imagine that the Minnesota Secretary of State did not verify citizenship nor voter eligibility for a foreign-born legislative candidate.
Additionally, there currently exists no record or interview by Omar stating she applied for U.S. citizenship as an adult, passing required exams, and having taken the ‘Oath of Allegiance’ to the United States of America. (Where are the exuberant photos celebrating such an occasion?)
Even if Ilhan Omar successfully changes her date of birth on a handful of public sources, such as the Minnesota legislative page, Omar’s widely published age of 37 also poses a problem.
Multiple sources and interviews establish Ilhan Omar’s age to be 37 years old as she gained a seat in the U.S. Congress this year. Which, by the way, after a little math… also makes Ilhan’s date of birth to be 1981.
How will Ilhan’s congressional staff correct the interviews and multitude of credible sources consistently referencing her age to be 37 years old as she took office in the U.S. House of Representatives including the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress?[8]
A March 2019, BBC article, “The 37-year-old mother of three is the first Somali-American, first African-born American…”[9]
Did a May 2019, Federalist publication also get the congresswoman’s age wrong as well? “Omar is a 37-year-old educated woman who was elected to the U.S. Congress, not a middle schooler playacting in the Model U.N.”[10]
Or the May 2019, Huff Post? “The newly elected 37-year-old had returned to her home district to speak to and hear from community leaders and constituents.”[11]
As both, Ilhan Omar’s date of birth and age, cause reasonable doubt to her U.S. citizenship she must provide her naturalization records. ‘We the People’ have a right to constitutional clarification.
It is of utmost importance that Congresswoman Omar provide authenticated documentation of naturalization records leaving no doubt that she actually meets all constitutional qualifications to sit in the U.S. House of Representatives.
However, there is a legal snag. Ilhan Omar’s U.S. citizenship cannot be verified in a timely manner through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) without her permission.[12]
5 U.S.C. § 552a(b) No agency shall disclose any record… except pursuant to a written request by, or with the prior written consent of, the individual to whom the record pertains.
6 CFR § 5.3(a)… If you are making a request for records about another individual, either a written authorization signed by that individual permitting disclosure of those records to you or proof that that individual is deceased (for example, a copy of a death certificate or an obituary) must be submitted.
6 CFR § 5.21(f): If you are making a request for records concerning (a living) individual (other than yourself)… You must also provide a statement from the individual certifying the individual’s agreement that records concerning the individual may be released to you.
Without Ilhan Omar’s cooperation the American people, and states such as Minnesota, are unable to verify her U.S. citizenship. (Think about that!)
In light of the national security risk posed by Ilhan Omar’s association with Muslim Brotherhood front group the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), an unindicted co-conspirator organization in the largest terrorist fundraising trial in American history—the Holy Land Foundation Trial—and sitting on the Foreign Affairs Committee where top-level national security briefings are provided, it is imperative that the Congressional Ethics Committee and/or State Department take the necessary steps in verifying Ilhan Omar’s U.S. citizenship.
The onus is on Congress and Ilhan Omar to prove, without a shadow of a doubt, that she meets all constitutional qualifications, or she must step down.
Otherwise, the United States faces not only an immeasurable national security risk, but ultimately, a Constitutional crisis.
[1] https://history.house.gov/Institution/Origins-Development/Constitutional-Qualifications/
[2] https://www.uscis.gov/us-citizenship/citizenship-through-naturalization
[3] https://www.alllaw.com/articles/nolo/us-immigration/options-get-citizenship-for-child.html
[4] https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/30/us/politics/ilhan-omar-minnesota-congress.html
[5] https://www.twincities.com/2019/03/08/a-history-of-ilhan-omars-brief-but-busy-political-career/
[6] https://www.leg.state.mn.us/legdb/fulldetail?ID=15470
[7] http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=O000173
[8] http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=O000173
[9] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-47238450
[10] https://thefederalist.com/2019/05/08/everything-seth-meyers-said-about-ilhan-omar-is-wrong/
[11] https://www.huffpost.com/entry/ilhan-omar-profile_n_5ccc987ae4b0548b7359ee0f
[12] https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/files/nativedocuments/USCIS_FOIA_Request_Guide.pdf
AJ Kern lived in Iran as a teenager and rejects other cultures bringing a misogynist and anti-Christ ideology-governance system to our country. She joined the U.S. Army Reserves and attended Fort Huachuca for Intelligence Analyst. After military school, AJ attended Montana State University. After graduating with a Political Science degree, emphasis in Public Administration, AJ attended the University of Wyoming where she received a Master’s degree in Land Use Planning. AJ has written for the St. Cloud Times and brings to Third Rail Talk a wealth of knowledge in areas such as refugee resettlement. You can contact AJ through her website ajkern.com
