Republicans say mounting evidence from Minnesota points to a deliberate political strategy involving welfare fraud, migrant relocation, and census manipulation, with probes now widening to other Democratic-led states.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Republicans in Congress say they are uncovering evidence that Minnesota’s sprawling Somali immigrant welfare fraud scandal may be part of a broader, deliberate effort by Democratic leaders and aligned nonprofits to influence federal elections and congressional apportionment in reliably blue states, according to a Just the News report.
As investigators examine what prosecutors estimate may involve the loss of roughly half of Minnesota’s $18 billion in federally funded welfare spending over recent years, GOP lawmakers argue the fraud is not an isolated failure of oversight but a component of a larger political strategy. They contend that Democrats reversed Trump-era executive actions to ensure noncitizens, including illegal immigrants, were counted in the 2020 Census, then opened the southern border under President Joe Biden, allowing millions of migrants to enter the country in a short period.
Republicans further argue that progressive nonprofits helped relocate those migrants from southern border states to Democratic-run “sanctuary cities” in key electoral states, where they were enrolled in taxpayer-funded welfare programs. They say Democratic state leaders failed to intervene—or, in some cases, looked the other way—when evidence emerged that noncitizens were defrauding those programs at massive scale, while liberal judges blocked efforts to halt or penalize the abuse.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., who is leading the House investigation, said Republicans are increasingly confident the evidence will show intent rather than accident.
“No question. One hundred percent, this was a coordinated effort to get more Democrat voters into these states,” Comer said during an appearance on the Just the News, No Noise television program.
Comer said committee investigators have already assembled data illustrating how the alleged strategy played out in Minnesota, where Democrats have controlled most statewide offices for more than a decade. He said prosecutors now estimate that approximately half of the state’s federally funded welfare spending was lost to fraud in recent years.
“In Minnesota, 86% of the Somalis are on Medicaid,” Comer said. “That is free healthcare. You don’t pay one penny into it like we pay into Medicare. All that Medicaid is free healthcare. So 86% of the Somali population of Minnesota gets full free healthcare, in addition to food stamps, housing and transportation and obviously daycare and things like that. So this is completely an effort to create a huge voting bloc.”
Democratic electoral success in the state, Comer added, is “because of this Somali population.”
“Not only do they vote, they now contribute a lot of money to Democratic candidates,” he said. “And I think a source of this money is probably a lot of these fraudulent schemes taking place.”
In the Senate, Homeland Security Committee Chairman Rand Paul, R-Ky., is leading a parallel investigation and has introduced legislation aimed at cutting off welfare benefits for refugees. Paul said early findings suggest a coordinated effort linking welfare fraud, immigration policy, and political advantage.
“It’s not just welfare dependency. It’s actually a scam, and they’re stealing the money,” Paul told Just the News.
Paul has focused particular attention on the role of progressive nonprofits that received billions in federal funding under the Biden administration to relocate migrants from the southern border to Democratic-controlled sanctuary cities. He said his legislation is designed to shift financial responsibility back to the organizations that sponsored the migrants.
The Center for Renewing America, a 501(c)(3) policy group, reported that nonprofits involved in those efforts include the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Catholic Relief Services, the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, the Central American Resource Center, and the International Organization for Migration, a United Nations-backed organization whose stated mission includes facilitating legal migration pathways.
“People say, ‘Well, gosh, these poor people come from war-torn areas. How will they survive?’ Well, they will survive the way we traditionally did when we admitted people,” Paul said. “If you sponsor them, they’re your responsibility.”
Paul criticized charities that he said brought migrants into the country and then enrolled them in public assistance programs funded by taxpayers.
“It’s charitable to give your own money,” he said. “It’s not charitable to take someone else’s money.”
He added, “If you look at the overall scheme of things, we’re $2 trillion in the hole. We can’t take care of our own, much less admitting hundreds of thousands of new people.”
Conservative media outlets and lawmakers are also pressing the argument that the fraud was intentional rather than accidental. The Federalist recently published a commentary arguing the scandal reflects a broader pattern in Democratic-led states, declaring in a headline that “It’s Not A Minnesota Problem, It’s A Blue State Problem”.
“Democrats and regime media have been gaslighting the country, casting critics as bigots, and shooting the messengers who sent the long-neglected story viral,” the publication wrote, adding that state and local leaders were attempting to deflect scrutiny rather than confront systemic fraud.
House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., echoed those claims, describing Minnesota as emblematic of broader Democratic governance failures.
“You know, Minnesota is an interesting place. It’s a microcosm of the Biden administration that turned itself into a weapon against Donald J. Trump, that Minnesota thuggery from Tim Walz and (Attorney General) Keith Ellison,” Emmer said during an appearance on the John Solomon Reports podcast. “These guys are crooks.”
Emmer said congressional investigators have obtained affidavits from Minnesota state employees alleging they warned Walz and Ellison about widespread fraud but were ignored.
“The whole thing is a powder keg that has been allowed to exist for years by Democrats, who benefit off of corruption,” Emmer said.
Walz and Ellison have denied wrongdoing, saying they did not ignore evidence of fraud. Federal authorities, including hundreds of FBI and Homeland Security Investigations agents, are actively examining the allegations.
The probes are now poised to expand beyond Minnesota. President Trump has ordered federal agencies to open investigations in California, while congressional committees are also reviewing potential fraud in New York and Illinois—states with larger immigrant populations and higher levels of taxpayer-funded welfare spending.
“California, under Governor Gavin Newscum, is more corrupt than Minnesota, if that’s possible??? The Fraud Investigation of California has begun,” Trump wrote earlier this month on Truth Social.
Concerns about California were reinforced last month when the state auditor issued a report designating eight major agencies as “high risk” for fraud. The report highlighted the CalFresh food assistance program, warning that its high payment error rate could force the state to replace up to $2.5 billion a year in federal funding with state funds by fiscal year 2028.
California Auditor High Risk Report by yourNEWS Media
“We conclude that the California Department of Social Services met our criteria to be designated as a high-risk agency,” the report stated, citing persistent eligibility and benefit determination errors.
As investigations continue, some Democratic-led states are already facing reductions in federal funding. The Department of Health and Human Services has frozen $10 billion in child care funds over concerns about fraudulent programs, while the Department of Agriculture is considering similar action related to food stamp fraud.
A Democrat-appointed federal judge recently blocked an effort to cut off Minnesota’s food stamp funding, prompting an angry response from Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins.
“This isn’t about helping those in need. It’s about liberal judges protecting fraud and refusing transparency,” Rollins wrote.
Original article
Comments