A Somali illegal alien with a 30-year history of fraud and ties to high-profile Minnesota politicians was arrested Friday by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Recently surfaced photos show Abdul Dahir Ibrahim, a Somali national with a deportation order dating back to 2004, posing with Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and “Squad” member and U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar.
The Sahan Journal has compiled a list of individuals charged in various criminal indictments. Although Ibrahim’s name is not presently on it, many of the fraudsters are connected to the Somali community.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security highlighted Ibrahim’s popularity among Minnesota Democrats, sharing several photos of him and his soon-to-be departure on social media.
“Criminal illegal alien, Abdul Dahir Ibrahim has been linked to Minnesota’s top sanctuary politicians,” DHS wrote in the X post. “Bye-bye, Abdul.”
Criminal illegal alien, Abdul Dahir Ibrahim has been linked to Minnesota's top sanctuary politicians. In these pictures Ibrahim can be seen with @GovTimWalz, @Ilhan, and @OmarFatehMN.
Ibrahim was convicted in Canada for Asylum and Welfare Fraud prior to his entry into the United… pic.twitter.com/mijqM4ZB0L
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) December 5, 2025
DHS also included a photograph of a snowy scene with Ibrahim in handcuffs and being loaded into an unmarked vehicle by federal agents.
Ibrahim’s record reads like a how-to on skirting America’s immigration system, but he finally got ICED as part of President Trump’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota.
Ibrahim was taken into custody by ICE agents and is being held at the McCook ICE facility in Nebraska, dubbed the “Cornhusker Clink,” records show as reported by The New York Post.
According to ICE, Ibrahim entered the United States in 1995 in New York after his deportation from Canada, where he was convicted of asylum and welfare fraud.
He has had a deportation order against him in the U.S. since 2004 and the courts have rejected his appeals, Fox News Digital reported. ICE said Ibrahim was granted Temporary Protected Status for 10 years but should have never been eligible.
His criminal activity goes back more than 20 years in the U.S. According to other records, Ibrahim was convicted in Dakota County, Minn., for providing false information to police and driving without a valid license in January 2002.
He was fined and sentenced to a year of probation. Ibrahim has also been issued 12 traffic or parking citations in the U.S., Fox News reported.
In another case of fraud, Ibrahim is not married but at one point claimed his sister was his wife and he was father to her children, a claim later found to be fictitious, according documents reviewed by Fox Digital.
On April 3, 2004, an immigration judge ordered Ibrahim removed and noted his history of fraud. His appeals were denied, and, in 2006, a circuit court upheld the immigration court’s decision.
Despite that judge’s ruling, Ibrahim’s request for temporary protective status was approved for approximately 10 years. He has a pending TPS application that has still not been adjudicated since 2023, Fox News reported.
Ibrahim has been captured smiling in photos with Walz, Kamala Harris’ vice-presidential pick in 2024; Omar, the Somali-born congresswoman from Minneapolis; Jamal Osman, a Minneapolis Democratic City Council Member; and state Sen. Omar Fateh, who recently ran for Minneapolis mayor but lost.
Fox News Digital reported Ibrahim has been photographed with Walz at least twice. Osman and Fateh both wrote letters of recommendation on behalf of Ibrahim during his immigration proceedings.
Although federal prosecutors have charged 78 people related to the COVID-era Feeding Our Future scandal, reports of the massive Minnesota welfare fraud have been largely overlooked by mainstream media and Democratic leaders in Minnesota.
Last month, the Manhattan Institute’s City Journal reported that some of the fraudsters created an elaborate network to funnel money back to Somalia and that Islamic terror group Al-Shabaab took a cut.
The fraud dates back years and involves Minnesota’s Medicaid Housing Stabilization Services program, Feeding Our Future and other social service programs, including one that recruited Somali children into autism therapy services even if they didn’t need them.
City Journal reported several individuals involved in the Feeding Our Future scheme donated to, or appeared publicly with Omar and others. Omar’s deputy district director, Ali Isse, advocated on behalf of Feeding Our Future. Fateh lobbied Governor Tim Walz in support of the program.
And one of the accused, Abdi Nur Salah, served as a senior aide to Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey, Sahan Journal previously reported.
President Donald Trump has called out Minnesota’s elaborate fraud schemes, along with Walz and Omar, in recent Truth Social posts, calling the state a “hub of money laundering activity.”
Trump called for an immediate end to TPS status for Somalis in Minnesota, citing the unfettered fraud and corruption as the basis of his decision.
He also took aim at the state’s Somali community during his Dec. 2 Cabinet meeting. He said they complain, won’t assimilate into the country and are a drain on the system, adding, “I don’t want them in our country.”
The City Journal report claiming taxpayer money was embezzled to support Al-Shabaab also prompted investigations by the House Oversight Committee and the U.S. Department of Treasury.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent appeared on CBS’ “Face the Nation” and accused Omar of gaslighting the American people over the extent of the fraud.
“We are discovering that Minnesota state welfare funds somehow made their way overseas,” Bessent posted on X Monday with a clip from “Face the Nation.” “The money is being tracked to the Middle East and Somalia, and we must get to the bottom of how it was used.”
He added: “When you come to this country, you learn which side of the road to drive on, stop at stop signs, and—above all—not defraud the American people.”
Former Trump White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany, host of Fox News’ “Saturday in America” chimed in on “America’s “Newsroom” that the real scandal is these prosecutions date back to 2022 under President Joe Biden.
“Merrick Garland called this the country’s largest pandemic relief fraud scheme, so where was the sprawling Biden-era investigation?” McEnany said, citing a recent report by The New York Times, which failed to cover it during Biden’s presidency.
The Small Business Administration had flagged loans for fraud under Biden “but they let them out the door.”
“It was some of the defendants’ lawyers who said it was like they were filling the cookie jar up, and like they knew people were stealing out of the cookie jar, and they kept refilling it and refilling it,” McEnany said. “I think Scott Bessent makes an important point… We love immigrants who come to this country, but we need an assimilation process. You can have your own culture that’s fine, but a fervor for the American dream. A love for this country. An appreciation for taxpayer dollars.”
Omar also appeared on “Face the Nation” and immediately turned the tables on the Trump administration. Omar described White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller as using “white supremist rhetoric.” She said it reminds her of the way “Nazis described Jewish people in Germany,” even though Miller is Jewish.
