Trump Administration Targets Somali American Citizens in Minnesota Welfare Fraud Scandal

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced on Wednesday that the Trump administration is pursuing revocation of citizenship for any Somali Americans convicted of fraud in Minnesota’s large-scale welfare scandal.

The Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State are currently reviewing the matter, Leavitt stated.

Approximately 90 individuals in Minnesota have been charged with defrauding state and federal programs that provide nutrition, healthcare, and housing assistance. Most of these defendants are of East African descent and are part of Minnesota’s Somali community — the largest such population in the United States.

The “Feeding Our Future” scheme alone has resulted in 57 guilty pleas and convictions. This program, named after a Minnesota nonprofit that billed the government for hundreds of millions of meals that were never served, has cost taxpayers between $250 million and $1 billion.