Controversial ‘squad’ member Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) has faced renewed scrutiny over connections between her family members, a Minneapolis health clinic, and long-running allegations surrounding her past marriage — including claims she once wed her brother. Records also show that a clinic run by her sister received millions of dollars in public funding during Omar’s time in state and federal office.
Omar’s older sister, Sahra Noor, lists on her LinkedIn profile that she served as CEO of People’s Center Clinics & Services from July 2014 until April 2018. Omar began serving her first term in the Minnesota House of Representatives in January 2017, overlapping with Noor’s leadership of the organization.
Noor’s husband, Mohamed Keynan, previously held several roles in Minnesota government before also returning to Africa. He later served as chief of staff to then-Somali Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khayre and as a policy adviser to former Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, widely known as Farmaajo.
People’s Center operates in Minneapolis’ Cedar-Riverside neighborhood, an area sometimes called “Little Mogadishu” because of its large Somali immigrant community, many residents of which primarily speak Somali rather than English.
Minnesota lawmakers approved a 2017 capital budget that included $2.2 million in funding for the clinic. The nonprofit has also received significant federal support, collecting approximately $33 million in grants from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) since 2002.
Breitbart News reports that records indicate that People’s Center entered a contract pharmacy arrangement under HHS’s 340B Drug Pricing Program with Degdeg’s Carepoint Pharmacy, an agreement signed by Noor in 2015. However, the pharmacy reportedly lost its license in 2017 and is currently listed as “permanently closed” on Google Maps.
Omar publicly highlighted her role in obtaining the $2.2 million appropriation while Noor was running the clinic and later celebrated the completion of renovations in 2022. She attended the event alongside Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey (D), state Sen. Omar Fateh (D-MN), and other Democratic officials.
According to the Minneapolis-based African community newspaper Mshale, the renovations included a walk-in medical clinic, a fitness center, a prayer room, and a call center staffed by workers fluent in East African languages such as Somali, Oromo, and Amharic.
Later, while serving in the U.S. House of Representatives, Omar secured an additional $1 million in federal funding for the facility’s upgrades. In April 2022, she stated that “neither I nor my immediate family has any financial interest in this project.”
Two years later, in April 2024, People’s Center acknowledged Omar’s role in securing the $1 million in congressionally directed funding. During the period when reporters were raising questions about Omar’s past marriages — including allegations that one of her former spouses was actually her brother — Noor stepped down from her position as CEO and relocated to Africa. She later launched a healthcare consulting firm in Kenya called Grit Partners. According to her own description, the firm helped organize “peer learning session” initiatives supported by funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
Noor’s husband, Mohamed Keynan, previously held several roles in Minnesota government before also returning to Africa. He later served as chief of staff to then-Somali Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khayre and as a policy adviser to former Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, widely known as Farmaajo.