Ilhan Omar advocated for funds for Somali-run addiction group later discovered to be restaurant: report

Representative Ilhan Omar has been accused of attempting to secure a $1 million earmark in a congressional spending bill for a Somali-led addiction recovery organization that shares an address with a Somali restaurant.

On Monday, lawmakers unveiled a new spending package totaling at least $174 billion. Iowa Senator Joni Ernst said her office found that Omar had earmarked $1,031,000 through the Department of Justice for an organization called Generation Hope MN. The earmark was included alongside funding requests co-led by Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith of Minnesota.

Ernst told Fox News that the earmark was presented as funding for a substance abuse clinic, but her office determined the organization was housed in a restaurant and run by three individuals who share the same residential address.

“Tons of red flags,” Ernst said. She explained that Congress stripped the earmark from the spending bill, citing it as an example of how easily federal money has “been flowing to bad actors” in Minnesota.

Generation Hope MN was established in 2019 and describes itself as a Somali-led organization. According to its website, the group aims to create "a better, safer, and more connected community for individuals experiencing drug addiction and substance use disorders in the greater East African community of the Twin Cities Metro area.” The website lists two addresses for the recovery center, one of which is also the listed location of Sagal Restaurant and Coffee. Google Maps also shows a neighborhood association group operating at the same address.

Fox News reported that the owner of the restaurant said the addiction recovery center operates out of space above the restaurant. Documents published by Omar’s office promoting the earmark listed the address for Generation Hope MN as being on “Cedar Ave. South,” rather than simply “Cedar Avenue,” as stated on the organization’s website. The Cedar Avenue South address corresponds with the Sagal Restaurant location on Google Maps. IRS documents reportedly show that the three leaders of Generation Hope MN listed the same address for a five-bedroom home in Minneapolis as their primary residence

Ernst said she is working to redirect the funds to a Department of Justice account dedicated to fraud prevention.

"The scale and frequency of fraud in Minnesota is staggering, but I fear just the tip of the iceberg," Ernst told Fox News. "Congress owes it to the American people to clean up the mess instead of letting the same politicians who created it keep pigging out at the trough. I am putting a stop to this madness, protecting taxpayers, and empowering the Department of Justice to hold every single criminal accountable."

Meanwhile, Omar joined protests in Minneapolis over the weekend against federal agents at an ICE facility. Omar was reportedly turned away when attempting to gain access to a Minneapolis ICE processing center and was seen confronting masked federal agents.

“Members of Congress have a legal right and constitutional responsibility to conduct oversight where people are being detained,” She wrote on X. “The public deserves to know what is taking place in ICE facilities.”