Rep. Ilhan Omar’s former husband and alleged brother, Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, described himself as a “gay man” in an academic paper published earlier this year.
Elmi’s stated sexual orientation has fueled further speculation surrounding his 2009 marriage to Omar, which critics allege was arranged to help him secure legal immigration status.
“As a gay man of the East African diaspora, my fieldwork was never neutral,” Elmi, a doctoral researcher at the University of Bristol, wrote in an August 2026 paper titled “Out in the Field: Notes on Researching Queer Violence in Kenya.”
“It was a space shaped by tension, risk, intimacy, and vulnerability,” he continued. “While navigating the challenges of ethnographic research, I immersed myself in the lived experiences of the people I spoke with, while also negotiating my own safety and the complexities of my identity.”
The paper was first reported by the Daily Caller.
Elmi moved in with Omar and her first husband, Ahmed Hirsi, in Minnesota in 2009, The Post reported Wednesday.
A friend of Hirsi described Elmi as an “extremely feminine Somali guy” who “was walking around in tight female clothing, which is heavily frowned upon in the Somali community.”
The source said that when he asked Hirsi about Elmi, Omar’s former husband replied that he was “his wife’s brother from London.”
Hirsi reportedly explained that Omar had legally married Elmi “to get him papers,” while he and Omar were married only under Islamic law, according to the source.
Elmi left Minnesota in 2012, and he and Omar finalized their divorce in 2017.
Federal investigators are examining whether Omar was involved in an alleged family conspiracy to commit immigration fraud—a matter that could potentially result in denaturalization and deportation.
Evidence suggesting that the “Squad” lawmaker entered into a sham marriage with Elmi was previously uncovered during a 2016 investigation by the FBI and Department of Homeland Security, according to a New York Times report confirmed by The Post.
The case stalled after prosecutors determined that any potential criminal conduct fell outside the five-year statute of limitations.
However, no similar statute of limitations applies if the government pursues civil denaturalization.
Omar has vehemently denied any wrongdoing.
Earlier this month, when asked directly whether Elmi could be related to her, Omar told MS Now: “Not to my knowledge.”
