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A fresh controversy has emerged surrounding Rep. Ilhan Omar, with new allegations regarding her previous marriage surfacing in the U.K. Daily Mail. Sources have come forward claiming Omar admitted to friends that her second marriage was arranged to help her brother obtain immigration papers.

The revelation comes from Abdihakim Osman, a close associate of Omar’s first husband, Ahmed Hirsi. According to Osman, the arrangement was a significant source of controversy within Minneapolis’ Somali community long before Omar entered the political spotlight.

The timeline of events begins with Omar’s 2002 Muslim ceremony marriage to Hirsi, which wasn’t officially registered with the state. The couple had two children before Ahmed Elmi entered the picture. Osman recounts that Elmi arrived from the U.K. for what was described as “rehab,” noting his distinctive presence in the community.

“People began noticing that Ilhan and [Hirsi] were often with a very effeminate young guy,” Osman said. “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.”

“[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,” he continued. “So they sent him to Minneapolis as ‘rehab.'”

The contrast between Omar’s two marriages was stark, according to Osman. While her ceremony with Hirsi was a large community celebration, her 2009 marriage to Elmi was conducted quietly through a Christian minister, despite both parties being Muslim. Osman suggests this choice was made because local imams would have recognized their familial connection.

“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,” he said. “I would say there were 100-150 people there.”

“When she married Elmi, no one even knew about it.”

The story gained wider attention when Somalispot, a diaspora website, published details about Elmi’s subsequent enrollment at Omar’s alma mater, North Dakota State University. While Omar has consistently denied these claims as “baseless, absurd rumors,” Osman maintains she confided in him about the true nature of the arrangement.

“She said she needed to get papers for her brother to go to school. We all thought she was just getting papers together to allow him to stay in this country,” he said.

Recent developments suggest the FBI has obtained documents related to the marriage, though it’s unclear if these are connected to Osman’s revelations. Marriage fraud carries significant penalties, including potential jail time and substantial fines.

While Omar has previously dismissed such allegations as conspiracy theories or Islamophobia, the emergence of testimony from within her own community presents a new challenge to her denials. The controversy continues to raise questions about the arrangement’s legality and the congresswoman’s transparency regarding her personal history.