Leavitt's comments signal a significant escalation in the federal government's response to pandemic-era fraud. The move prompts concerns about due process, potential targeting of immigrant communities, and the precedent such denaturalization efforts may set for U.S. citizens nationwide. Tensions are rising both locally and nationally as leaders debate appropriate measures, legality, and the impact on one of America's largest Somali diaspora communities.
Federal prosecutors have charged around 90 people in connection with state and federal program frauds, including nutrition, health care, and housing assistance schemes. There have been 57 guilty pleas and convictions in one program alone"the so-called Feeding our Future scheme, named after a Minnesota nonprofit which billed the government for hundreds of millions of meals during the pandemic that were never served. Estimates of the cost to taxpayers range from $250 million to $1 billion. Most of the defendants are of East African descent and believed to be part of Minnesota's Somali community, the largest in the U.S.
Drudge Retort Headlines
What Is the Minnesota Social Aid Fraud Scandal About? (223 comments)
Report Claims CIA Conducted a Drone Strike in Venezuela (37 comments)
ICE Plans $100 Million 'wartime recruitment' (28 comments)
How the Press Utterly Failed Us in 2025 (27 comments)
Trump Whines About Nobel Snub Again (19 comments)
Americans Getting Sicker Just as Obamacare Subsidies End (19 comments)
Trump Suddenly Sounds a Lot Like Biden on the Economy (14 comments)
Trump to POLITICO: Midterm Elections will be About 'pricing' (14 comments)
The Moscow-Mar-A-Lago Hotline (13 comments)
Trump: Ukraine Peace 'Closer Than Ever' After Zelenskyy Meeting (13 comments)