““Culturally married?” What does that even mean?”
One on paper in the USA, the other in practice (under sharia). The one she “legally” married, is apparently her biological brother. They were just committing immigration fraud to get him US citizenship. During the time she was supposedly “married” to him, she apparently continued to live with, produce children with, and even file joint income tax returns (another crime) with Mr. Hirsi.
The article on this thread (to a David Steinberg expose on Ilhan “Omar”): http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/3764937/posts, makes a very strong case that Ilhan herself gained citizenship fraudulently as well.
The gist is that she is not actually a member of the Omar family (the ones who got refugee status). She was born in the Esmi family. The Omars allowed (committed fraud) for three members of the Esmi family (Ilhan, her father, and one of her sisters) to pose as members of the Omar family, to get US citizenship as well.
Ilhan later committed multiple frauds, to get her brother (one of the other three members of her biological nuclear Esmi family, who had received UK citizenship), to get US citizenship.
This type of fraud was rampant among Somali immigrants at the time. 87% of those Somalis then claiming familial relation as their basis for application, who were then genetically tested, were shown to be frauds. From 2008-2012, that basis for application was suspended for Somalis, because of the overwhelming fraud.
You have a confusing typo: not the “Esmi” family, the “Elmi” family is allegedly Ilhan’s true family.