A Somali national previously convicted of fraud and living unlawfully in the United States, Abdul Dahir Ibrahim, was arrested Friday as part of a federal immigration operation.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Ibrahim was taken into custody and is currently being held at the McCook ICE facility in Nebraska. Records indicate that he has faced a removal order since 2004.
Before entering the US, Ibrahim was convicted in Canada for asylum and welfare fraud. After arriving in Minnesota, he was cited for providing false information to police and driving without a valid license in Dakota County in 2002, receiving a fine and one year of probation. Over the years, he also accumulated multiple traffic and parking violations.
During his time in Minnesota, Ibrahim appeared in photographs with several local political figures, including Gov. Tim Walz, Rep. Ilhan Omar, and former Minneapolis mayoral candidate Omar Fateh. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) later released these images publicly.
DHS noted that an immigration judge ordered Ibrahim’s removal in 2004, referencing multiple instances of fraud documented in his case file. The agency also released a photo showing Ibrahim in handcuffs as federal agents placed him into a vehicle.
Fox News reported that Omar Fateh had submitted a letter of recommendation on Ibrahim’s behalf during earlier immigration proceedings.
Ibrahim originally entered the United States through New York in 1995 after being deported from Canada. In one of his unsuccessful asylum applications, case documents show that he listed his sister and her children as his spouse and his own children. An immigration judge rejected the petition, citing inconsistencies and a lack of credibility in his statements.
