Ghahraman's story parallels Omar's, who grew up in Iran before becoming a refugee and successfully claiming political asylum in New Zealand.
Earlier today, Ghahraman tweeted her excitement at meeting Omar in Washington DC: "I get to hang out with one of my all time favourite political leaders today. Defining quote: 'They cannot stand that: a refugee; a Black woman; an immigrant; a Muslim; shows up in Congress thinking she's equal to them. But I say to them. How else did you expect me to show up?'"
A few hours later, she bonded with Omar about being targeted by racism.
In Twitter comments, Ghahraman added: "We were mostly laughing at the horrific sh*t we have to endure, talking about each other's posts we loved, and of course organising our movements!"
Ghahraman told the Herald she and Omar had been inspired by each other's political careers.
"I ran for Parliament the year she got into the state legislature in 2016, and I remember everybody talking about how extraordinary it was that Trump won and I was kind of like, 'Well, it's a long-set trend, rich, white, establishment guy, kinda racist'.
"To me [Omar's election] was the extraordinary thing that happened. I spoke to her about what it meant for me to see her get elected and what an encouragement that was for me to run."
Within a year, Ghahraman was an MP, and the following year Omar was elected to Congress.
Ghahraman said Omar had told her how meaningful it had been to watch Ghahraman calling out the US over children being detained at the US border.
They bonded over the racist treatment they had been subjected to, having both been given a security escort at different times, as well as how absurd it was to be called terrorists and be accused of wanting to implement Sharia law.
They also talked about the March 15 terrorist attack and how New Zealand responded, and how that contrasts with the political response to mass shootings in the US.
Omar told Ghahraman she was grateful to be among a group of women who could stand together in the aftermath of Trump's comments in July; Democrats Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley and Rashida Tlaib were also targeted by Trump.
But Omar also raised concerns with how New Zealand prioritises Asia-Pacific immigrants over refugees from Africa and the Middle East.
Ghahraman is on a self-funded trip to the US where she is meeting people and organisations related to her portfolios.
She has been in New York meeting with the New Zealand UN delegation, the UN Special Rapporteur on Poverty, and is meeting Deb Haaland and Sharice Davids, the first two native American Congresswomen, in coming days.
