Minneapolis — A Increase the number of federal officers in Minnesota after new allegations of fraud at daycare centers run by Somali residents.
President Donald Trump had previously tied the knot with running his administration Immigration campaign vs. Minnesota Large Somali community To a series of Fraud cases Involving government programs that most of the defendants have roots in East African country.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and FBI Director Kash Patel announced increased operations in Minnesota this week. The move comes after a right-wing influencer posted a video on Friday claiming he discovered daycare centers run by Somali residents in Minneapolis had committed fraud amounting to $100 million.
Tiki Brown, commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Children, Youth and Families, said in a press conference on Monday that state regulators took the influencer’s allegations seriously.
Noem posted on social media that officers were “conducting a large-scale investigation into child welfare and other rampant fraud.” The goal was “to dismantle large-scale fraud schemes that exploit federal programs,” Patel said.
Minnesota has been in the spotlight for years for Medicaid fraud, including a A whopping $300 million Epidemic fraud case involving the non-profit organization Feeding our future. Prosecutors said it was the largest in the country COVID-19 related fraud fraud and that the defendants took advantage of a state-run and federally funded program aimed at providing food to children.
In 2022, during the administration of President Joe Biden, 47 people They were accused. The number of accused has reached It grew to 78 throughout the ongoing investigation period.
So far, 57 people have been convicted, either because they pleaded guilty or because they lost at trial.
Most of the accused are of Somali origin.
numerous Other fraud cases They are being investigated, including new allegations focusing on child care centers.
in Informational interviews And in press releases over the summer, District Attorney Joe Thompson estimated the total loss from all the fraud cases It could exceed $1 billion. Earlier this month, A.J The federal prosecutor alleged That’s half or more of the nearly $18 billion in federal money that has supported 14 programs in Minnesota since 2018. It may have been stolen.
Trump’s immigration enforcement actions in Minnesota focused on… Somali community In Minneapolis-St. Paul area, which is The largest in the country.
Trump Labeled Minnesota Somalis “Rubbish,” he said I didn’t want them in the United States
About 84,000 of 260,000 Somalis In the United States Living in Minneapolis-St. Paul area. The vast majority of them are American citizens. Approximately 58% were born in the United States and 87% of those born foreign are naturalized citizens.
Of those running schemes to obtain money for child nutrition, housing services and autism programs, 82 of the 92 defendants are Somali-Americans, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minnesota.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the 2024 Democratic vice presidential nominee, said fraud will not be tolerated and that his administration “will continue to work with federal partners to ensure fraud is stopped and fraudsters are caught.”
Fraud can be a big problem 2026 gubernatorial race like Walz is seeking a third term.
Walz said The audit is scheduled by late January It should give a better picture of the extent of the fraud but allow the $1 billion estimate to be accurate. He said his administration was taking strict measures to prevent further fraud. He has long defended how his administration responded.
Minnesota’s leading Somali American lawmaker, Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar, urged people not to blame an entire community for the actions of a relatively few.