As President Donald Trump announced plans to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Somali immigrants in Minnesota, new details have emerged connecting Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., to individuals later convicted in a large-scale fraud scheme.
In January, the Department of Justice announced convictions against the co-owner of Safari Restaurant in Minnesota and a former mayoral aide. According to a DOJ press release, between April 2020 and January 2022, the defendants participated in an extensive scheme to exploit a federal child nutrition program by laundering millions of dollars intended to reimburse costs for serving meals to children.
The case was part of a broader federal investigation into alleged misuse of funds tied to pandemic-era food assistance programs. The DOJ did not accuse Omar of wrongdoing, but noted that she had past interactions with some individuals involved in the case.
“The defendants exploited changes in the program intended to ensure underserved children received adequate nutrition during the Covid-19 pandemic. Rather than feed children, the defendants took advantage of the Covid-19 pandemic—and the resulting program changes—to enrich themselves by fraudulently misappropriating millions of dollars in federal child nutrition program funds,” the DOJ wrote.
“According to court documents, Abdulkadir Nur Salah was co-owner and operator of Safari Restaurant, a site that received more than $16 million in fraudulent Federal Child Nutrition Program funds. Abdi Nur Salah registered Stigma-Free International, a non-profit entity used to carry out the fraud scheme with sites throughout Minnesota, including in Willmar, Mankato, St. Cloud, Waite Park, and St. Paul. Abdi Salah also worked for the City of Minneapolis as a Senior Policy Aide to the Mayor,” the department added.
Omar, D-Minn., previously campaigned at Safari Restaurant during her last congressional race. The restaurant also made donations to her campaign, which drew renewed public attention after its co-owner was later convicted in the federal child-nutrition fraud case. Omar has not been accused of any wrongdoing in connection with the scheme.
In a video posted to X, Omar praised Safari Restaurant for its role in providing meals to children, comments made prior to the fraud allegations becoming public.
“I’m very happy to be here at Safari. As everyone knows, our young kids estimated about a number around 20 million, who are school kids, only get their food from school, so we got a chance to create a law called the Meals Act that makes it easy in this time of a pandemic for those kids who aren’t in school, who are at home, don’t starve,” she said.
Between 2021 and 2022, Safari Restaurant contributed approximately $4,700 to Rep. Ilhan Omar’s campaign.
The restaurant is now under federal scrutiny as part of an investigation into an alleged $250 million fraud scheme involving child nutrition funds, according to the Daily Mail. Prosecutors say the scheme involved claiming reimbursements for meals that were never served and using “ghost” businesses within Minnesota’s Somali community to channel the funds. Omar has not been accused of involvement in or knowledge of the scheme.
The revelations come days after Trump railed against the Somali community and claimed that the U.S. would be “better off” without them. “I don’t want them in our country. Their country’s no good for a reason. Their country stinks. They’re garbage,” the president declared during a Cabinet meeting.
Omar (D-MN) lashed out at President Donald Trump on Wednesday, calling him “creepy” and “obsessed” after his comments.
Trump went on to link his criticism to recent federal prosecutions in Minnesota, where the Justice Department charged dozens of individuals — many of them Somali nationals — in the $250 million pandemic-era fraud scheme involving a federally funded child-nutrition program.
“When they come from hell and they complain and do nothing but b—-, we don’t want them in our country,” Trump added. “Let them go back to where they came from and fix it.”