Quote
1982
Ilhan Omar is born in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu, the youngest of seven children.
1991
Ilhan’s family fled the country during the Somali Civil War and took sanctuary in a Kenyan refugee camp for four years.
"It was the first time I understood what hunger would feel like, what death looked like."
1995
When Ilhan is 12, she and her family move to America in search of justice and democracy.
1997
Ilhan and her family move to Minneapolis Minnesota’s Cedar-Riverside neighborhood – the heart of the Somali diaspora. It becomes the state Ilhan calls home.
Ilhan falls in love with politics while interpreting for her grandfather at Democratic Party caucuses.
2000
At age 17 Ilhan becomes an American citizen.
2011
Ilhan graduates with a degree in Political Science and International Studies from North Dakota State University.
2012
Organized for the Vote No Twice campaigns to make love the law of the land and defeat a voter suppression initiative.
2014
Worked as a Senior Policy Aide for Minneapolis City Council Member Andrew Johnson
2016
Elected to MN House of Representatives and increased turnout in Minneapolis and across MN
"My election win offers a counter narrative."
2018
Ilhan is elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, marking a number of historic electoral firsts: she is the first Somali-American, the first naturalized citizen from Africa, and the first non-white woman elected from Minnesota, and one of the first two Muslim women (along with Rashida Tlaib of Michigan) to serve in Congress.
2019
Returns $450,000 to constituents
Introduces 35 bills
MEALS Act is signed into law
PAUL Act, a bill she authors to crack down on foreign lobbyists, passes the House
Passed 14 amendments
Cofounds the Black Maternal Health Caucus and the Emergency Taskforce on Black Youth Suicide and Mental Health
Elected Vice Chair of the Medicare for All Caucus
Leads prescription drug reform effort in the House, and helps pass a bill limiting the U.S. role in the War in Yemen.
Leads conversations about reorienting America’s foreign policy around peace and diplomacy.
August 2019
20 bills and amendments introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives
12 bills and amendments passed in the U.S. House of Representatives
371 bills cosponsored
21,152 constituent letters answered
16 roundtables and town halls
879 meetings with constituents
189 constituent cases worked on
$400,414 returned to constituents
December 2019
28 bills and amendments introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives
16 bills and amendments passed in the U.S. House of Representatives
433 bills cosponsored
47,484 constituent letters answered
21 roundtables and town halls
Over 1,000 meetings with constituents
Over 200 constituent cases worked on
$411,635 returned to constituents
June 2020
48 bills and amendments introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives
19 bills and amendments passed in the U.S. House of Representatives
548 bills cosponsored
67,732 constituent letters answered
32 roundtables and town halls
Over 1,300 meetings with constituents
Over 400 constituent cases worked on
$478,000 returned to constituents
Ilhan Omar is born in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu, the youngest of seven children.
1991
Ilhan’s family fled the country during the Somali Civil War and took sanctuary in a Kenyan refugee camp for four years.
"It was the first time I understood what hunger would feel like, what death looked like."
1995
When Ilhan is 12, she and her family move to America in search of justice and democracy.
1997
Ilhan and her family move to Minneapolis Minnesota’s Cedar-Riverside neighborhood – the heart of the Somali diaspora. It becomes the state Ilhan calls home.
Ilhan falls in love with politics while interpreting for her grandfather at Democratic Party caucuses.
2000
At age 17 Ilhan becomes an American citizen.
2011
Ilhan graduates with a degree in Political Science and International Studies from North Dakota State University.
2012
Organized for the Vote No Twice campaigns to make love the law of the land and defeat a voter suppression initiative.
2014
Worked as a Senior Policy Aide for Minneapolis City Council Member Andrew Johnson
2016
Elected to MN House of Representatives and increased turnout in Minneapolis and across MN
"My election win offers a counter narrative."
2018
Ilhan is elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, marking a number of historic electoral firsts: she is the first Somali-American, the first naturalized citizen from Africa, and the first non-white woman elected from Minnesota, and one of the first two Muslim women (along with Rashida Tlaib of Michigan) to serve in Congress.
2019
Returns $450,000 to constituents
Introduces 35 bills
MEALS Act is signed into law
PAUL Act, a bill she authors to crack down on foreign lobbyists, passes the House
Passed 14 amendments
Cofounds the Black Maternal Health Caucus and the Emergency Taskforce on Black Youth Suicide and Mental Health
Elected Vice Chair of the Medicare for All Caucus
Leads prescription drug reform effort in the House, and helps pass a bill limiting the U.S. role in the War in Yemen.
Leads conversations about reorienting America’s foreign policy around peace and diplomacy.
August 2019
20 bills and amendments introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives
12 bills and amendments passed in the U.S. House of Representatives
371 bills cosponsored
21,152 constituent letters answered
16 roundtables and town halls
879 meetings with constituents
189 constituent cases worked on
$400,414 returned to constituents
December 2019
28 bills and amendments introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives
16 bills and amendments passed in the U.S. House of Representatives
433 bills cosponsored
47,484 constituent letters answered
21 roundtables and town halls
Over 1,000 meetings with constituents
Over 200 constituent cases worked on
$411,635 returned to constituents
June 2020
48 bills and amendments introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives
19 bills and amendments passed in the U.S. House of Representatives
548 bills cosponsored
67,732 constituent letters answered
32 roundtables and town halls
Over 1,300 meetings with constituents
Over 400 constituent cases worked on
$478,000 returned to constituents