Trump’s attacks on Minnesota’s Somali community cast a spotlight on fraud cases

MINNEAPOLIS AP President Donald Trump has linked his administration s immigration crackdown against Minnesota s large Somali population to a series of fraud cases involving cabinet programs in which multiple defendants have roots in the east African country Trump last week labeled Minnesota Somalis as garbage and disclosed he didn t want them in the U S The president s push comes as Republicans have stepped up their criticism of Gov Tim Walz the Democratic vice presidential candidate for his alleged failures in preventing the fraud It s already a major issue in the gubernatorial race as Walz seeks a third term Minnesota has the largest Somali population in the U S About of the Somalis in the U S live in the Minneapolis-St Paul area The overwhelming majority are American citizens Almost were born in the U S and of the foreign-born are naturalized citizens Here s a look the fraud cases and several of the political impacts The losses The extent of the losses from a series of major fraud cases being prosecuted by federal personnel in Minnesota isn t certain Prosecutors have put the losses from one occurrence known as Feeding Our Future at million alone In news interviews and press releases over the summer prosecutor Joe Thompson estimated the total from all cases could exceed billion Republicans have seized on that number Walz explained last week that an audit due by late January should give a better picture but allowed that the billion figure could be accurate He commented his administration is taking aggressive action to prevent additional fraud He has long defended how his administration responded Feeding Our Future The Feeding Our Future cased was named after the nonprofit that prosecutors say was at the heart of the country s largest COVID- -related fraud scam It involved a state-run but federally funded undertaking meant to feed children during the pandemic The defendants collectively were accused of claiming to feed millions of meals to children but stealing the money instead The incident broke in during President Joe Biden s administration when people were charged The number of defendants has grown to throughout the ongoing scrutiny So far people have been convicted either because they pleaded guilty or lost at trial Thirteen are awaiting trial Two people were acquitted although one of those was convicted in a related juror bribery matter Five are fugitives and one is dead Other fraud cases Eight others were charged in September for their alleged roles in a scheme to defraud federally funded strength care benefits from the Minnesota Housing Stability Services Campaign Two have already pleaded guilty Prosecutors noted it was just the first wave of charges What we see are schemes stacked upon schemes draining guidance meant for those in need It feels never ending Thompson revealed at the time I have spent my career as a fraud prosecutor and the depth of the fraud in Minnesota takes my breath away A week later prosecutors charged a woman in an autism project fraud scheme and indicated more would follow She was charged earlier in the Feeding Our Future scenario Each event we bring exposes another strand of this organization Thompson disclosed in another report Greater part of the defendants are of Somali descent More than of the people charged in those three cases are of Somali descent for a total of according to the U S Attorney s Office for Minnesota That includes of the defendants in Feeding Our Future though the alleged ringleader was a white American woman Six of the eight defendants in the housing development are Somali as is the one defendant who was charged in both the autism matter and food fraud cases Minnesota s majority of prominent Somali American Democratic U S Rep Ilhan Omar explained on CBS News Face The Nation on Sunday that it s unfair to blame the entire group for the actions of a relative sparse She reported the greater part are angry about the fraud This also has an impact on Somalis because we are also taxpayers in Minnesota Omar reported We also could have benefited from the activity and the money that was stolen Omar accused Trump of an unhealthy obsession on the region and on her personally I think it is also really critical for us to remember that this kind of hateful rhetoric and this level of dehumanizing can lead to dangerous actions by people who listen to the president she explained Terrorism accusations remain unsubstantiated Trump launched his crackdown after conservative news outlet City Journal claimed that taxpayer dollars from defrauded programs have flowed to the militant group al-Shabab an affiliate of al-Qaida But Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent conceded on Face The Nation that investigators haven t uncovered any proof so far that the fraud proceeds are fueling terrorism Prosecutors have not charged any defendants in the fraud cases with providing material help to foreign terrorist organizations In contrast prosecutors have long been aggressive in filing terrorism charges against area members who allegedly tried to join or provide material backing to al-Shabab or the Islamic State group That s why it s an study We started it last week We ll see where it goes Bessent commented Omar countered that she s confident that any links would have already resulted in charges But if that is the incident if money from U S tax dollars is being sent to help with terrorism in Somalia we want to know and we want those people prosecuted and we want to make sure that that doesn t ever happen again Omar declared Source