Minnesota Democrats have sided with the state’s Somali community despite evidence of widespread Somali fraud of taxpayers’ healthcare programs.
Numerous investigations have uncovered billions in fraud among several of Minnesota’s overly generous welfare schemes. The cases of fraud are astounding. In one case, a group called “Feeding Our Future,” run by Somalis, bilked $250 million from the state. In another case, tens of millions were stolen from the state’s autism treatment program, again by Somalis. And in a third situation, more than $550 million was stolen from Minnesota’s coronavirus pandemic relief program. And these are just a few of the investigations finding massive fraud, much of it tied directly to the state’s large Somali community.
Worse, millions of dollars of this stolen funding appear to have been redirected by Minnesota Somalians into the hands of the African terror group Al-Shabaab.
But as the fraud, investigations, and indictments continue to pile up, many Minnesota Democrats are rushing to support the state’s Somali community.
House DFL Leader Zack Stephenson, for instance, attacked President Donald Trump for suggesting that temporary protected status (TPS) for Somalians should be ended.
“Last night’s announcement illustrates the worst of what Donald Trump does best. His policies are driving up the cost of everything from food to health care and he knows it,” Stephenson railed on Saturday. “But instead of actually trying to solve these problems, Trump tries to change the subject by pitting Minnesotans against one another. Scapegoating our Somali neighbors won’t bring down the cost of groceries. Minnesotans know that the Somali community is part of the fabric of our state. We’ll always stand with our Somali neighbors when shameless politicians like Donald Trump try to use them for their political purposes.”
State Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy also weighed in on Trump’s plans.
“Donald Trump is villainizing a small number of residents of Minnesota who came to this country seeking refuge from armed conflict and famine,” Murphy bloviated. “They are the victims of violence and worthy of our protection and compassion. Ending their protected status would not make Minnesotans safer, but it would return these families to the danger they fled. This is a cruel, illegal order from a corrupt and vindictive President. We must reject his impulses to divide neighbors with hate and fear.”
Minnesota House DFL Floor Leader Jamie Long also defended the crime-wracked Somali community with a post on X, accusing the president of trying to “scapegoat” Minnesota’s Somali migrants.
For their part, some Somali leaders in Minneapolis are demanding that Christians come to their support to show solidarity with them against Trump’s attempts to end their protected status.
Several hundred Somalis descended on Karmel Mall in Minneapolis on Sunday to hold a rally to denounce the president after Trump called Minnesota a “hub of fraudulent money laundering activity.”
“We know what our president has done. It is an attack on our community,” said Somali activist Khalid Omar. “He decided to also pit our communities against each other and attack our community,” he added.
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