Ilhan Omar (born October 4, 1982) is a historic American politician serving as the U.S. Representative for Minnesota's 5th district since 2019, making her the first Somali American and one of the first two Muslim women (alongside Rashida Tlaib) in Congress. Born in Mogadishu, Somalia, she fled the civil war as a child, spent years in a Kenyan refugee camp, and immigrated to the U.S. in 1995, becoming a citizen in 2000. A progressive Democrat and deputy chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, she advocates for policies like a $15 minimum wage, universal healthcare, student loan forgiveness, and abolishing ICE. A vocal critic of Israel, she supports the BDS movement and has faced intense backlash, including derogatory comments from Donald Trump, death threats, and removal from the House Foreign Affairs Committee by Republicans in February 2023. Before her congressional role, she served in the Minnesota House of Representatives from 2017 to 2019, and her career has been defined by both groundbreaking firsts and significant political controversy.