Democrat Rep. Ilhan Omar (MN-5) dismissed a recent State Department report that identified her daughter, Isra Hirsi, as a participant in a major pro-Cuba convoy organized in defiance of U.S. sanctions.
The report, titled "Cuba: The Capital of 21st Century Communism", names Hirsi and several other "influential progressives", including current Democrat muse Hasan Piker, amongst a delegation that traveled to the rogue nation in March.
The "Nuestra América Convoy" drew leftist activists and politicians from dozens of countries who transported goods to Havana in what the State Department described as "defiance of U.S. sanctions."
Hirsi later described the trip in an Instagram post as transformative, saying she had never felt such “optimism and revolutionary spirit.”
"Cuba truly changed me," she wrote, adding that U.S. accounts of conditions on the island were little more than propaganda.
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When pressed by a reporter about Hirsi’s involvement in the event despite U.S. sanctions, Omar brushed aside the findings and called the entire document a “waste of ink.”
Omar insisted her daughter brought her own resources and was not part of any funded organization.
"So, she's not getting any support from the Cuban regime or organizations connected to it?" political correspondent Nicholas Ballasy asked.
"Absolutely not," she replied.
The Squad member offered no concern that her daughter had joined an effort the State Department itself framed as the actual propaganda win for the Cuban regime and indicated neither Hirsi nor she would respond to the allegations. Instead, she treated the official assessment as unworthy of serious attention.
"Why would she care?" Omar asked. "It means nothing to me. Or her. It's a waste of ink."
The Democrat lawmaker was then asked what form of activism Hirsi might take up in the future and whether it would involve further trips to Communist nations.
"She will do whatever she feels like doing, whatever her heart tells her to do," Omar replied.
Congresswoman Ilhan Omar defends her daughter’s activism against U.S. sanctions imposed on Cuba. Omar says her daughter @israhirsi hasn’t received any support from the Cuban government and a @StateDept report suggesting otherwise is a ‘waste of ink’ pic.twitter.com/eXgivYlCtu
— Nicholas A Ballasy (@NicholasBallasy) July 31, 2026
The New York Post reported on Hirsi's convoy to Havana at the time and said she publicly thanked the People’s Forum for organizing it. The group has faced scrutiny over alleged ties to Chinese Communist Party (CCP) influence operations.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA), in a letter to the Justice Department last April, requested an investigation into whether The People’s Forum (and Code Pink, who also made the trek) should register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), stating that evidence suggests the groups have been funded and influenced by Neville Roy Singham and the Chinese government.
Singham is a U.S. expatriate living in Shanghai with documented ties to the CCP.
Republican House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (MO-8) has described the group as a likely CCP-funded propaganda arm operating under tax-exempt status.
The People’s Forum has denied any wrongdoing.
The convoy reportedly stayed in a 5-star hotel during their trip to Havana even as the Communist nation suffered mass power outages. Omar's office denied that her daughter stayed in the same hotel.
Hirsi does not appear to hold a formal full-time job at present, with recent reporting stating that after graduating from Barnard College, she was unemployed and selling used clothes online.
Omar’s office stated that Hirsi paid for the trip herself and raised money through donations specifically for the supplies she personally distributed in Cuba.
She must have sold a lot of used clothes.
"I am incredibly proud of Isra and everyone who made the trip to Cuba," Omar said in an X post following the convoy's trip. "They took tons of aid to make sure the people of Cuba knew that there are so many people across the world who stand in solidarity with them."
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